Bleach: Undercover
by Urikaa
Summary: They wanted him to forget he ever was a Shinigami. He made them believe they succeded, then entered Soul Society under a new identity: Kasshoku Kaito from Rukongai, deceased for fifteen years, freshman at the Shinigami Academy. Post Winter War. IchiRuki
1. Chapter 1

**(Just reposting the chapters with the paragraph breaks that had misteriously vanished)  
**

* * *

**Title:** Bleach: Undercover

**Summary:** They wanted him to forget he ever was a Shinigami. He made them believe they succeded, then entered Soul Society under a new identity: Kasshoku Kaito from Rukongai, deceased for fifteen years, freshman at the Spiritual Arts Academy.

**Setting**: one year after the Winter War. Since I'm not really up to date with the anime/manga, this is mostly AU, _but_ I've also been majorly spoilered and I think it'll show here and there!

**Pairing**: Ichiruki

**Rating**: hmm…"Teens"? There's some swearing, some graphic violence, maybe some sexual situations later on.

**Betareader**: any volunteers?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach.

**PROLOGUE**

The Winter War lasted much longer than its name suggests. It took eleven months of pain and bloodshed, the losses were great among both parties but, in the end, Soul Society won.

Or to be more exact, Kurosaki Ichigo won, as without their leader the remaining Arrancars had no further interest in battling together, but rather disappeared back in Hueco Mundo, where maybe one day one of them would rise to be the new general.

Many witnessed (but mostly from a great distance) Kurosaki's battle to the death with the Traitor Aizen Sousuke, many had a hard time believing that such powerful beings could exist.

When both giants fell, everybody held their breath. But then, Aizen's body dissolved into invisible spirit particles.

And that was _it_.

The end of the War.

They feared (but some hoped) that Kurosaki would meet the same end, but thanks to a miracle, namely Inoue Orihime (but some also reported seeing his wounds cover up in a white substance and heal on their own), he survived.

Now, a year after the end of the War, the Great Hero and Saviour of Soul Society still lives in his hometown, Karakura, respected and admired by many in the Spirit World, feared and envied by others.

**CHAPTER 1**

Ichigo was walking home from school, his trademark scowl set even deeper than usual due to some disturbing intel from the local Shinigami expert.

That morning Urahara had pulled him and his friends out of school for an emergency meeting, getting them a severe scolding when they got back - since the finals were just a few weeks away - but that was beside the point. The point was that that uneasy feeling that had been gnawing at his gut for days had been right. According to Hat-n-Clogs -and he usually was even more right than his gut- things were about to get nasty.

And Rukia wasn't here to tell her, which Urahara said was better anyway, but still…he frowned _I don't care what he says, I can't let her think –_

Suddenly he sensed several Shinigami reiatsus appearing quite close to him. His sensing abilities had somehow improved, so he could tell that two of them belonged to captains, but not those he was most familiar with.

A moment later twelve figures appeared in front of him.

"Soi Fon and… _Komamura_-taicho ? What are you doing here?" he asked quite perplexed. It was a well-known fact that the fox-like Captain hardly ever came to the World of the Living. Ichigo studied the other Shinigamis and his eyes narrowed when he recognized the Kido Corps emblem on their uniforms.

Nobody answerd him directly, but Captain Soi Fon reached inside her uniform and produced an official looking parchment. With her face impassive as ever, she opened it and started reading.

" ' Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami of Karakura town, Soul Society acknowledges and is grateful for your assistance in the past war against the Traitor Aizen Sousuke. Unfortunately it is also aware that your involvement with the World of the Dead, as long as you are of the Living, goes against the natural order of both Worlds. Such involvement was tolerated in times of extraordinary need and danger, but those circumstances no longer apply. For these reasons, by order of Central 46, your Shinigami powers are to be sealed until the time of your natural death, and your memories of anything concerning Soul Society are to be erased to allow you to live out your natural life, as it was meant to be. ' "

§I§

As Soi Fon finished reading, she saw Kurosaki's eyes widening in shock. He recovered quickly reaching for his Substitute Badge, but before he could even touch it, Komamura-taicho was behind him, restraining him with a formidable hold, that the boy in his human body had no hope of breaking.

As they had expected, the soon to be ex-Substitute started yelling and thrashing with all his might, but the fox-like Captain was quick to knee him in the back and slam him into the ground front chest first, leaving Ichigo wheezing for his breath -he was sure he'd cracked at least a rib or two- , while Komamura continued keeping the hold on the arms behind his back.

"Shit-" Ichigo got out coughing into the asphalt "you know this isn't right. I saved your fucking asses and this is how you repay me ?!" he said angrily "you should at least have the decency to let me go to Soul Society and plead my case!" he added.

"We have orders" the 7th Division Captain simply replied.

Ichigo peered up at him "Loyal to a fault, aren't you?" _Like the dog you are_, he added in his mind, _I bet that's why they sent you_.

Meanwhile the Kido Corps had taken their positions around the fallen Substitute and started waving a binding Kido around him. Komamura's hold was quickly replaced by an extremely powerful 'Bakudo N.4 – Hainawa' but soon something even stronger started weighting on him.

Ichigo couldn't recognize the Kido, since the Shinigami were just murmuring the words, but thanks to Soi Fon's very informative parchment, he had a pretty good idea of what it was for. Soon his ears started ringing, his eyes started unfocusing and the heat and pressure on his chest grew to the point where that was the only thing he could feel.

§I§

It took a great deal of time and spiritual energy, which was expected since they were dealing with a being with beyond Captain level reiatsu, but finally the Kido Corps completed their task. They stepped back, exhausted, letting the Captains near the trembling and sweating form on the ground.

Komamura turned the boy over and studied him. He looked really out of it, he was pale and his eyes were glazed over, but they didn't care about that. Both Captains extended their senses to analyze Kurosaki's spiritual energy. While before he had been leaking that 'strange' kind of shinigami reiatsu like a broken faucet turned on full-blast, know he felt just human, a-run-of-the-mill human.

Komamura took the Substitute badge that he'd ripped from Ichigo before and pressed it against the boy's body. Nothing happened. His eyes met those of his fellow Captain and they nodded to each other. The sealing was complete.

Soi Fon reached inside the left sleeve of her uniform and took out a Memory Modifier made specially by the 12th Division, then she flashed it over Ichigo's half open eyes. A moment later he was out cold.

§I§

After half an hour Kurosaki finally started regaining his consciousness. They watched him stumble to his feet, then frown as he checked his aching ribs and the minor scratches on his face. They heard him mumble then curse. He thought he'd had a run in with one of the gangs that used to bother him. Good.

They observed carefully every one of his facial expressions, every movement he made. They saw him checking his surroundings, but he looked right through them. Soi Fon-taicho attempted a sudden move in his direction, but he didn't react in any way. He couldn't see them anymore.

They followed him home, watched him greet his sisters and weird father, heard his confused response when one of the girls asked if he'd heard from Rukia-chan. A member of the Kido Corps suggested they wipe the family's memory of the petite Shinigami. Soi Fon replied she would take care of it.

They left Kurosaki's house and returned to one of Karakura's parks where they met up with three other Kido Corps squads. All of them reported success in their missions.

Their tasks completed, the Shinigami opened a Senkaimon and left surrounded by a flutter of Hell Butterflies. From here on 12th Division's Monitoring System would be in charge of controlling the situation in Karakura town and keeping an eye on the former Substitute.

* * *

"Goodnight Ichi-nii !"

"'Night Yuzu" Ichigo mumbled back and trudged into his room. As soon as he closed the door, his arms wrapped around his ribs and he grimaced in pain. His back leaned against the door, then he slowly slid down in a crouched position.

_Fuck, __it hurts like a bitch!_

Sitting through dinner had been a sheer torture, but he really didn't want to worry his sisters, especially Yuzu. She'd almost started crying when she'd seen the couple scratches on the side of his face.

"That was an award-winning performance, Ichigo"

Ichigo looked up and saw a black cat sitting on his desk "You mean during dinner or before ?" He asked with a smirk, that soon turned into another grimace of pain.

Yoruichi didn't reply right away, but tilted her head and studied her former student. "Glad to see it worked. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. Urahara forgot to mention this part" he growled.

"But you've had much worse ! What's some yanking on your Chain of Fate ?" she teased.

Ichigo glared up at her "Yeah, but this time all the quick ways to fix it are out".

"Oh, I'm sure you'll survive" she replied, and Ichigo was sure she would be smirking if she were in human form, so he glared at her some more, but stayed silent. Even arguing worsened the pain.

"So what now ?" he asked in a business-like tone.

"We do as we agreed to this morning. You'll have to lie low until me or Kisuke get in touch with you. 12th Division is going to be monitoring you very closely" she explained.

"Most important, Ichigo-kun, you must ignore any spiritual being that crosses your path, even if it's Rukia-chan or a Hollow about to eat a soul in front of you" she added in a grave tone.

Ichigo clenched his jaw, but nodded in agreement. They'd already discussed that in depth that morning. "As long as you keep your word and take care of all the Hollows that incompetent Shinigami misses".

The cat nodded, then jumped down on the floor. She apprached the still crouching Substitute, hopped on his lap then placed a paw on his chest.

"What–"a very soft glow started emitting from her paw. He raised an eyebrow. _Huh, that's new. She can heal in her cat form?_

A few minutes later he was already feeling better, not healed, but not in excruciating pain anymore. "Thank you, Yoruichi-san".

The cat nodded and half a second later was already back on the desk and about to exit through the window.

"Say thanks to Urahara and Tessai too" he added. _Without them I would have lost everything._ The image of violet eyes flashed through his mind, but too quick for his conscious to grasp it.

Yoruichi nodded once again, then disappeared into the night.

TBC

**A/N****:**

Please, let me know what you liked and what you didn't, so I can make it better for YOU!

I'm trying to stay mostly in-character with everybody, but, as I said, I'm way behind with the anime/manga, so if you're reading and think "s/he would never do that!", please tell me.

Also, since English isn't my mother language, I would REALLY appreciate if you told me if anything sounds weird. Thanks!

BTW, you may wonder why I chose Komamura as one of the Captains to go after Ichigo. As the prologue suggests, the war strengthened the bonds between Ichigo and many Shinigami, so it'd be only careful on Central 46's part to choose, for this kind of mission, somebody who doesn't have a personal relationship with him.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Just reposting the chapters with the paragraph breaks that had misteriously vanished)**

**

* * *

**

Many thanks to all you people who reviewed and favored my story!

Special thanks to **Rukiashirou** who helped me get the name suffixes right. As a thank you, I sent Rukia on a mission to your country!

I know it took me some time, but did you notice how _freaking_ long is this chapter ?!

IMPORTANT: The events in the following chapter happen BEFORE those in the 1st chapter.

**CHAPTER 2**

***THE MORNING OF THE SAME DAY***

First period. Math Test.

Ichigo was staring at his paper. Not that he hadn't studied, but today he just couldn't concentrate.

His eyes kept sliding to the empty desk beside his. _Where the hell are you, midget ?_ She should've been back yesterday from her mission in the Philippines.

Since becoming 13th Division's Fukutaicho, she was responsible for the supervision of Easthern and South-Easthern Asia, which meant that every time the local Shinigamis in that area weren't able to deal with their Hollows, she was called to lead a small group of fighters from her Division to take care of the threat. (1)

Most of the times he went with her claiming that otherwise he would get rusty, since the number of Hollows in Karakura had dwindled down after the War, but this last time he'd stayed behind.

_Why the hell did I let her go alone? _Ichigo argued with himself.

_Oh __right ! It's because she's the most stubborn, annoying and sadistic bitch in the Universe who enjoys twisting the meaning of my words then kicking me for it ! _he glowered at Rukia's desk as if it was the girl herself.

_She even dared to accuse __ME that I think she's weak ! Which is just STUPID ! I mean, she killed a freaking Espada all by herself !_ he continued his inner rant.

In truth, he was really proud of her, of how brave she'd shown herself to be during those difficult months. After her near-death experience, she'd stubbornly decided to go back to battle even though she wasn't fully recovered yet, and that had been just the beginning of their trials.

Many other clashes had followed and she had fought valiantly, but after Aaroniero Arruruerie, he'd decided to stick by her as much as it was possible, given the circumstances.

On the other hand, he seriously didn't know how he would have made it to the end if she hadn't been there to kick his ass every time he started doubting himself.

Unfortunately, these things that he considered 'facts'_,_ had somehow got lost during their arguement.

_Why won't she get it that I just need to know she's safe ? She's may nakama ! _he sulked. Only that, when Rukia had asked 'why' he wasn't checking as often on, say, Orihime or Tatsuki – they too still fought Hollows from time to time – , he'd started stuttering and spluttering.

It had ended with a mean kick to his gut and a furious Rukia jumping out of his bedroom window.

That had been three days ago.

Since then Ichigo had been constantly drifting between anger and worry, though today he was leaning more towards the latter. _I could contact Soul Society and ask about her, but if she's OK and still mad – a very likely possibility – she's gonna flail me alive! _

SLAM !

The class door slid – well, 'slammed' – open interrupting his train of thoughts. A familiar red-haired boy stood on the doorstep.

The boy scanned the faces of the present, then made eye-contact with Ichigo and some of his friends. "The boss wants all of you at the shop ASAP"

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow "What-" but Jinta was already out of view and running down the corridor.

The teacher blinked "Who was that ?"

Orihime, Tatsuki and Sado looked at Ichigo questioningly, but he shook his head. "No idea" he mouthed.

He turned to Uryu whispering "Do you feel anything ?"

The Quincy took a moment, then he too shook his head.

Ichigo huffed in aggravation but stood up just the same, followed by his friends.

"Just where do you think you are going ?" Fukuda-sensei addressed them icily. "You have a math test going on. Especially you Arisawa-san" the teacher pierced the girl with his gaze.

Tatsuki stiffened. _As if I could forget this is my make-up test ! _

"I'm sorry Fukuda-sensei" she bowed deeply "I hope you will be so understanding and give me another chance, but this is an emergency". With that Tatsuki turned on her heel and run after the others, who had used the distraction to slip out of class – _Traitors !_

_Damn you Urahara ! _She scowled in a way rivaling her orange-haired friend, _If this is about anything less than a reincarnate Aizen, I'm gonna tear you limb from limb!_

* * *

Urahara's Shoten doors slid open revealing Jinta who yelled "They're here !" then disappeared back outside.

The five high-school students stepped inside where the jovial shop-owner greeted them. "Goodmorning everybody ! How are you ?"

The responses varied from Orihime's cheerful "Goodmorning Urahara-san !" to Ichigo's grunt.

"So where's the fire ?" the orange-haired teen asked in an annoyed tone, but Mr. Hat'n'Clogs blissfully ignored him – as usual.

"Please, sit everybody !"

They did, then they all gave Urahara an expectant look.

A moment later Tessai brought a steaming pot and some cups.

"Would you like some tea ? But of course you would ! A cup of Ban-Cha in the morning is the best way to start your day !" the shop-owner rambled on.

A vein popped on Tatsuki's forehead. "Cut the crap Urahara ! What's going on ?"

Her friends gave her a weird look, while Orihime looked at her worriedly.

"My my, aren't we nervous !" Urahara commented with one of his infamous grins, but then he tipped his striped hat revealing serious eyes that belied his playful tone.

_So something really did happen, _Ichigo thought. He glanced at his friends and saw them tense up ever so slightly. Yep, they too, by now, knew how to read the crazy ex-captain .

Urahara's face turned somehow solemn and he finally started explaining. "I've just received confirmation that Central 46 has released the order to seal all of your Spiritual Powers and erase all of your memories that have anything to do with the Spiritual World.

"Very soon, maybe even today, they are going to send several squads from the Kido Corps to carry out the orders".

A stunned silence filled the room.

Ichigo was the first to recover. "The hell they are !" he barked, slamming a fist on the table and making the cups jump on the spot.

"I'm so NOT going to let them do that !" Tatsuki growled "I was the last one to get my powers and I'm going to keep them !"

Uryuu narrowed his eyes. "They can't seal the powers of a Quincy", he stated flatly. (2)

"That's right, Ishida-kun" Kisouke replied "but your memories are fair game".

The Quincy scowled.

"But, why are they doing that ?" Orihime piped up.

"Well" Urahara tilted his head "officially it's so that you can go back to living your normal human lives".

Ichigo scoffed and even the others didn't look very convinced, but Inoue got thoughtful. _Back to a normal life… no more monsters, no more blood and pain… but then, _she glanced at Ichigo wistfully_, I would forget all those times with Kurosaki-kun._

Tatsuki noticed the faraway look on her friend. "You OK, 'Hime ?"

"Uh ? Ah, of course !" the other girl gave her a wide smile. Ichigo remained clueless, as usual.

"Since you are telling us" the Substitute said "I suppose you've prepared some countermeasure".

The shop-owner chuckled deviously. "You know me too well !" he said, then turned to the ex-captain of the Kido Corps who was sitting next to him "Tessai-san, explain to them, please."

The other man nodded. "The Bakudo they are going to use is supposed to bury your reiryoku deep inside your soul at least until the time you die and part from your mortal bodies.

"In order to avoid Central 46 getting suspicious, we're going to let the Kido work, but I'm putting a seal on you so it can be easily broken – if you know how to do that" Tessai finished with a smirk.

"What about our memories ?" Ishida asked, folding his arms.

"Well" Kisouke intervened "since I've 'casually' found out what kind of Memory Modifier they're using, I've prepared these" he reached inside his pocket and showed them…

"Huh ? Pink lentils ?" Orihime blinked "How cute !!!" but the guys eyed the things doubtfully.

"These 'lentils'" the scientist explained "are supposed to interfere with the Memory Modifier. All you'll have to do is apply one behind each ear !"

Ichigo and Uryuu sweatdropped.

"So we won't be losing our memories ?" Sado asked taking a couple of lentils. _Hmm…they really are cute_.

"Not exactly" Urahara replied "as with the Bakudo, we'll let it do its job, but thanks to these devices the effect will be only temporary !" he finished with a proud smile.

"What's your idea of 'temporary' ?" Ichigo asked suspicious.

"It means until they are deactivated, that is a few years–"

everybody gasped,

"– if nobody touches them, or as soon as 'somebody' " he pointed with his fan at himself and Tessai "deactivates them".

"So", Arisawa glared and folded her arms "we are dependant on you to get both our powers and memories back. I don't like it and I think the others agree".

The worried looks on the others' faces confirmed her words.

"But you see, Tatsuki-chan" Urahara countered "we must play it safe and this is the best way. They will be monitoring all of you, and if they uncover the truth, they won't give me the chance to do anything before sealing you powers and memories for good.

"In Soul Society permanent means permanent" he added with grave emphasis, his eyes hidden by his hat, but a second later he was back to his cheery self "and if something happens to either me, Tessai-san or Yoruichi-san, there's always our hero !" he pointed at Ichigo "I'll teach him what to do to break the Bakudo and deactivate the lentils !"

"What ?!" said hero's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed. _What are you planning Geta-Boushi ?_

Orihime looked at her school-mate intrigued, but Tatsuki paled. _My powers depending on Kurosaki-kun doing Kido ?! _Immediately after, another thought struck her. _Wait–_

but Ishida was even quicker on the uptake "Wait, does this mean Kurosaki gets to keep his powers and his memories ? Why ?" he bored his eyes first into the ex-captain's then into Ichigo's, who stiffened, returned the glare, but stayed unusually silent.

"Well…" Kisouke twirled his fan and studied first the orange-haired teen, then his friends "it really is just a technical problem, you know ?" he smiled. "Remember that, unlike you, Kurosaki-kun has the get out of his body to access his powers, so we can't use the same procedures on him".

Ishida didn't look convinced. He was no expert in Kido, but something was missing in that explanation. "Wha–",

but Ichigo cut him off "You still haven't told us what you think are the real reasons behind Central 46's decision, Urahara-san".

_He's even changing the subject ?! _the Quincy got even more suspicious. He glanced at the others and saw that Inoue, Arisawa and Sado had noticed as well. _What are you hiding, Kurosaki ?_

"As you've probably guessed, this decision is quite in line with Central 46's usual Modus Operandi" Kisouke said " What really has me and others in Soul Society think there's something more to it is their timing".

"Meaning ?" Tatsuki asked, quickly forgetting about her thoughts about Ichigo.

"Mening that it's been just a year, and there are still powerful Arrancars around" Kurosaki scowled and clenched his jaw.

"Exactly !" Urahara nodded in approval "Soul Society is currently short of powerful fighters. Why get rid of some of your best resources ?" he gave them a meaningful look. "And let's not forget the Hogyoku was lost, not destroyed".

"And it has the bad habit of turning up at the most inconvenient of times" Ichigo added bitterly, remembering how Aizen had surprised them with a second wave of even more powerful Arrancars thanks to that cursed device.

Many faces frowned in thought.

Sado was the first to ask what was on everybody's mind. "Who do you think is behind this ?"

"We don't know yet" Urahara replied "but, since the order they've given doesn't 'remove' you for good, this person, or group of people, is either really cunning and doesn't want to attract any attention, or doesn't have enough influence inside Central 46".

"So" Ichigo knittend his eyebrows "you're saying this could be the work of a bunch of whiny aristocrats ?"

"It's one of the possibilities, but" Kisouke looked at them from under his hat "as we don't know, we too have to move very carefully"

A heavy silence descended on the room.

"Argh !" Inoue put both hands in her hair "All this talk of conspiracies is making my head spin !"

"You're so right, Orihime-chan !" the ex-captain sighed dramatically, then glanced at the clock. "I think we should hurry with the Kido seals. Who's going first ?"

Sado stood up and Tessai motioned for him to follow him in one of the back rooms.

* * *

Ichigo sat on a rock in Urahara's basement. He was in his shinigami form, Zangetsu propped against a leg, and observing Tessai with a frown while the Kido expert worked on his body a few feet away.

Tessai appeared to be 'drawing' some weird lines with his reiatsu on his body, which shook every so often as if hit by a seizure.

"What's he doing, exactly ?" he asked his menthor, who was standing next to him.

"He's tracing force lines that will deflect the Spiritual Energy of the Bakudo"

"Ah, I see"

They watched in silence for some more time, then Kisouke spoke "You haven't told them, have you ?"

Ichigo looked up and rised an eyebrow "About ?"

Urahara pointed his fan at the body, that was currently experiencing another seizure.

Ichigo's expression hardened. "It wasn't necessary".

Urahara shrugged. "If you say so".

"And I'm sure you've told my old man ages ago" the Substitute added drily. It wasn't really a question.

The former captain smirked, his eyes hidden by the shade of his hat.

"Sooner or later they will start noticing you're not aging".

"I know".

After the War, when things had finally calmed down, Urahara had taken the time to explain to him something he'd already suspected.

He was dead.

Plain and simple.

Actually, if you stopped to think about it, it was quite obvious. You're alive as long your Chain of Fate is linked to your body. When it's broken the body dies very soon, while you become first a plus, then a Hollow or you go to Soul Society where you can become a Shinigami: his life story – though maybe not exactly in that order. (3)

That time, two and a half years ago, Urahara had had to make his body into a gigai, otherwise it would have deteriorated. The only difference between his and what the shop-owner usually sold was that it, being his original body, fit him perfectly. As with every other gigai, it couldn't age, unless you used the kind that sucked your powers and turned you back into a Human, and that wasn't an option.

He'd often wondered why nobody questioned that he could get in and out of his body as he pleased. No Human could do that, not even his super-powered friends.

Speaking of…"Does Soul Society know ?"

"Well" Kisouke tipped his hat with his fan "considering the kind of Bakudo they're going to use on you, no"

The Substitute strightened his back in surprise. "How is that even possible ? The 12th Division is not busy with Aizen anymore"

"First, they still don't know how you got back your shinigami powers. Second, don't forget that Kurotsuchi-taicho is dead".

"What about his fukutaicho ?"

"Ah yes, Nemu-san, such a nice girl, isn't she ?" Kisouke grinned.

Ichigo scowled. "What are you not telling me ?" but Urahara just retained his enigmatic smile.

The teen's left eye twitched. He considered shaking the info out of the scheming Shinigami, but just then Tessai called that he was finished with the seal.

* * *

Ichigo was about to exit the shoten, when he stopped on the doorstep as a thought struck him. "Urahara-san, if we're not supposed to kill the Hollows for the time, who's gonna protect the town ?"

Kisouke shrugged. "There's still Zennosuke-san"

"That incompetent ?! No, no way !" Ichigo glared at the other. "I don't care about Central -fucking- 46 if it means letting the Hollows snack on Karakura's souls !" he finished getting into Urahara's face.

"Allright allright" Kisouke waved his hands in a defensive manner "I'll have somebody protect Karakura until this story isn't over. Is that OK ?"

Ichigo stepped back. "Thank you, Urahara-san".

The teen stepped outside, but the shop-owner stopped him. "I almost forgot, Kurosaki-kun, these are your 'lentils'"

Ichigo took the tiny devices and blinked. _Orange, huh?_ he smirked. _A much better color._

***TBC***

**NEXT CHAPTER**: Rukia comes to town & we finally get to see some action !

**A/N**:

Oh Kami, this chap is finally over ! *waves herself*. I can't believe it got SO long, and I couldn't even break it in two!

I expect many many reviews for the effort ! ^_-

- I really needed to explain some things and didn't want to dismiss the Humans just like that, but I think there are some parts that are actually boring: which ones? I need to know for future reference.

-About that bit of romance: too corny? too slow? too fast? I still haven't decided how fast I'm going to go with that, so YOU get to influnce my decisions!

(1) As far as I know, it was never stated what 13th Division's specific duties are, but I noticed that the Shinigamis that take care of day to day patrolling in the Living World are unseated officers of the 13th, so I expanded on that idea.

(2) If SS could, they would have done that when the "Quincy problem" arose centuries before.

(3) I don't care that '' says Ichigo is alive. All the evidence points to the opposite ! Here's another fic on the subject: "Already dead" by Ori.

YOU MAY WONDER why Ichigo talked so little among his friends: it's because, since Urahara mentioned the "until you die" part, he knew most of what followed didn't concern him.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Just reposting the chapters with the paragraph breaks that had misteriously vanished)**

**

* * *

**

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! You are the ones who keep me writing!

Somebody asked about a sentence in the A/N in the last chap.:

"I don't care that '''' says Ichigo is alive" . The missing words are 'bleach(dot) wikia' – and I still can't believe fanfiction(dot) net cut it out !

CHAPTER 3

"I'm going out !" Ichigo called over his shoulder as he shoved on his sneakers.

"Please, don't forget to buy the soy sauce on the way back !" his sister called after him.

Ichigo mumbled something that resembled a 'sure', then exited the house slamming the front door behind him, causing the whole house to shake.

Yuzu looked at the abused door with a pout, then turned to her sister, whose eyes where glued to the soccer match on TV.

"Karin, do you know what's up with Ichi-nii ? Lately he's been grumpier than usual."

"Dunno, maybe he broke up with his girlfriend, or something" she replied half-interested "…come on ! That was clearly a fault !!" she yelled at the TV.

Yuzu's eyes widened "Girlfriend ?! Ichi-nii has a GIRLFRIEND !?!"

"Idiotic referee ! Where were you looking !!!" Karin growled waving a fist in the air, then remembered her sister was talking to her "…huh ? Uh, you know, the short one with blue eyes. I don't remember her name, but I think she stopped by a couple times".

Yuzu wrinkled her eyebrows in thought and absentmindedly scratched an itch behind her ear. As her hair locks moved, they revealed a tiny pink circle.

"Oh, I remember now !" Yuzu said excitedly "but she hasn't stopped by in a while now, so maybe you're right" her eyes saddened. "Poor Ichi-nii !"

But her twin wasn't listening anymore, too busy cursing the referee.

* * *

Ichigo sat slouched on a bench by the river bank, Yuzu's precious soy sauce in a bag by his side. To any random passer-by he would appear just like a kid relaxing and watching tha sun-set, but if you looked closer, his seething eyes and clenched jaw gave away his inner thoughts.

_Two weeks, two fucking__ weeks and no word from Geta-Boshi. I swear, if don't hear from him by tomorrow, I'm gonna look for him and-_

_-and cut him like a squealing pig! I like that idea! _Hichigo finished his sentence with a sadistic chuckle.

_Shut __it ! Nobody asked for your imput !_ Ichigo spat back.

_I'm fucking tired of waiting__ ! If a bunch of stuck-up shinigami have you shitting your pants in fear, let me out and I'll deal with them!_ Hichigo half-mocked, half-growled. He really was fed up with this situation and was getting desperate for some action – fighting against his King in his mind was fun, but it soon got old when he couldn't confront a real enemy.

During the War Ichigo had insisted on learning some Hollow techniques, and after much bargainig – read 'beating the shit out of each other' – they had made a deal where Ichigo would let him out from time to time –under strict supervision– to have some of his 'fun', and Hichigo would teach his King the Hollow stuff, like Cero, Bala and Garganta.

Ichigo sighed exasperated. He actually –_urgh_– understood his Hollow –because he himself hated waiting–, but the last thing he wanted was to go at war with Soul Society, and that meant exercising his'patience', something he'd painfully learned during the War.

It had taken the death of several shinigamis from the 12th during a mission to Hueco Mundo to teach him that if he really wanted to save and protect people, he couldn't always rush in half-cocked.

§I§

In addition to this frustrating state of affairs, going to school now was like entering the twilight-zone. Ishida barely acknowledged his existence, Inoue would just stutter whenever he said something to her, and communication with Tatsuki didn't go beyond a 'Hi' in the morning. There was still Chad, but it's not like they could discuss Hollow slaying techinques anymore.

Ok, so he had known this would happen, but knowing and experiencing something are very different things, and that's how, in the past few days, he'd come to realize how much he'd relied on his friends' support, including freaking Ishida.

_Oh well_. He sighed. _At least for the time they're safe from annoying Hollows._

As if on cue he heard one of the bastards roaring in the distance. His whole body tensed involuntarily, but he made an effort not to show any change in his outward appearance. 12th Division's monitoring system never slept.

His eyes unfocused and his anger was quickly replaced by deep concentration. He could percieve that the Hollow was in the South outskirts of the town. He homed in on Kuramadani Zennosuke's reiatsu. Yep, there he was, running towards the enemy.

He sensed the surge in Spiritual Energy that meant the Shinigami had released his shikai. He felt him strike with Tsuchinamazu, but the Hollow must have deflected and retaliated because Zennosuke's reiatsu was the one to drop. Ichigo felt like rolling his eyes. _Come on Afro guy, put a little more effort into it !._

He sensed Zennosuke moving around, evading the Hollow's attacks, then he hit it with Kido, but it didn't seem to be enough.

K_eep this up and Yoruichi will have to come save your ass_ _again, _Ichigocommented drily in his mind.

If two weeks ago anybody had asked Ichigo to relay this much detail on a fight occurring at a two mile distance, he would have laughed in their faces. Now though, he'd become so good at sensing reiatsu to make Ishida turn green with envy.

At first he'd felt pretty astonished by this sudden improvement, but he and Zangetsu quickly came to the conclusion that it was caused by that combination of Kido-s. Normally his reiatsu was like a thick fog surrounding his body, and he always had to make quite an effort to sense anything beyond it.

Now, courtesy of Tessai and the Kido corps, not a single drop could escape, so for the first time he could 'see' clearly… and it was amazing ! It made him want to find a way to learn to do it on his own, without outside aid.

§I§

Meanwhile Zennosuke had finally decided that he didn't fancy becoming Mr. Hollow's evening meal and was slowly but steadily beating the bastard down. The enemy's reiatsu finally vanished and Ichigo relaxed…

… but not a minute later ten Gargantas opened in the sky above that same part of town, spouting twice as many Hollows.

Ichigo's eyes widened. _What the hell is that ?! A freaking Hollow convention !?!_

Something like that hadn't happened in a long time, and there was no way Kuramadani could handle that.

The Substitute closed his eyes and focused even harder, trying to track down Urahara and his crew.

_Move it King ! There's some Hollow ass to kick __!!! _ Hichigo started pestering him again.

Ichigo clenched his jaw. _Not yet_.

Suddenly he sensed a Senkaimon opening in the distance. _Well, would you look at that_, he thought mockingly, _for once Soul Society is on time_.

He recognized the reiatsu of several shinigamis from the 13th, the ones that usually went with Rukia, which meant… _There she is !_

That familiar sense of excitement and distress filled him. She was going to fight – without him. _Allright_, _I know she can handle herself, but if things get ugly…_ He coldn't help the scowl that appeared on his face.

Then he remembered that argument he and Rukia had had over two weeks ago.

He sighed.

_So, maybe she was a tiny itsy-bitsy bit righ__t. _

He sighed again.

_OK then__, _he told himself firmly_, they are just standard Hollows. She is a skilled warrior…_

…s_o why can't this fucking sense of anxiety disappear already !?! _

Then another thought struck him.

When she was done, she would probably come looking for him.

Shit.

* * *

Kuchiki-fukutaicho's eyes narrowed as she quickly assessed the situation. It wasn't good, but not too bad either.

"Shinichi and Naoko take the Hollows on the right, Rika and the others, you go after the ones heading towards the park" she ordered.

"Yes ma'am !" the shinigamis yelled and run after their targets.

Rukia shook her head slightly. After all these months it still felt weird how her subordinates would follow her orders without batting an eyelash.

When she had been offered the position, she'd wanted to refuse. She hadn't felt worthy of it. But then Ichigo had told her she should take it because she was brave and a great warrior and they would respect her for that. She remembered his heartfelt voice when he'd told her, and his eyes…

_They were so warm_…she smiled. That memory still made her heart flutter.

Now, as she deflected the attack of one of the Hollows surrounding her while keeping an eye on her squad, she knew he'd been right. She could be a good fuku-taicho.

But somethng with this fight didn't feel right. As she slashed off the arm of her attacker, she knew.

She was in Karakura killing Hollows and Ichigo wasn't there fighting along side her.

A lump formed in the back of her throat. _Ichigo…_

_NO, st__op it Kuchiki,_ she shook her head firmly, _things are how they are, and they can't be helped._

After this last thought, she focused solely on her enemies. She had souls to protect and companions to keep safe.

* * *

After the last Hollow was purified, the shinigami gathered around their fuku-taicho.

"You did well, and we've reported only minor injuries" Rukia congratulated the group.

Rika, the 14th seat, blushed in embarassment and hid her wrist behind her back. She felt a pat on her back and looked up. It was lieutenant Kuchiki smiling at her. "You fought well Rika". The girl nodded, grateful.

Rukia opened a Senkaimon, but didn't move to enter. She turned to face her squad. "Please, inform Ukitake-taicho that I have some business to attend here. I won't be long."

The shinigamis nodded and some of them exchanged meaningful glances. It was no secret in Sereitei that their fuku-taicho and the Substitute were close, though nobody knew exactly 'how' close.

Rukia watched the last member of the squad disappear inside the Senkaimon, then closed her eyes and focused.

As she'd thought, she couldn't sense him, she was too far. Before she had been able to find him even among the millions of people in Tokyo.

She bit her lip.

She made a decision.

_I need to say goodbye to him, even if he doesn't remember__ me._

But first, she needed to get her gigai.

* * * TBC * * *

**A/N**:

Ok, so I know nothing much happened here, but I had a busy week and didn't want to keep you waiting any longer. I promise next update won't be that long – since I already know exactly what I'm going to write! ^_^

BTW, and this is important, would you rather I update more often and write shorter chaps (around 1500 words) or longer ones and update every 8-10 days? Please, let me know !

I'd also like your opinion on Rukia: keeping her in character in a romanc-y situation is freaking hard !

And Ichigo being finally able to sense reiatsu ?! The poor guy deserved to try it at least once ! :-D

Uh, and, since I didn't have much time to read it again (and I still don't have a beta – any volunteers?) let me know if you find any mistakes or if anything sounds weird. Thanks!

**Next chapter**: Stay tuned for some Ichiruki ('cause that's all the romance you're going to get for some time) and for Urahara and Ichigo working on his cover!


	4. Chapter 4

I'm really sorry it took me almost 2 weeks to update **hides from angry readers**, but RL got in the way .

To make up for it, I tried to write a long chapter, as most of you asked, but then it got so ridiculously long (over 4000 words!) that I had to divide it in two, which means I'm posting Chapter 5 in a couple days! ('cause I still want to add a last little piece that I have yet to write)

Also, many many thanks to DeviantHollow23 for betaing!

CHAPTER 4

Rukia had just left Urahara's Shoten and was running in the general direction of the Kurosaki's house, hoping to catch up to Ichigo before he got home.

The last rays of sunlight illuminated her face, set in a firm expression that betrayed none of her inner turmoil.

She was now finally able to sense him, and he felt so…'normal', which was just '_weird__'_…

But 'normal' was good, right?

Now he could live his life peacefully, without the heavy responsibilities, the constant danger and violence her presence had forced on him. After all, that's what she'd always wanted for him, right?

So why was it that since she – as all the higher-ranking officers – had been informed of the news, she'd been hoping that it wasn't true, that Urahara had done something to stop it – which he'd just denied –, or that the sealing Bakudo hadn't worked – but it was a well-known fact it was infallible.

It's just that…

…_I miss him_.

She swallowed.

That was hard to admit.

What she didn't understand was that they'd been apart for months in the past and it didn' feel like this, so what was different now?

_This time it'__s permanent_.

_But_, she argued with herself, _I'__ve had to part with other people I cared for _– Hisana's and Kaien's image flashed through her mind – _and I__'__m OK, no_ _problem_.

She didn't sound convincing to her own 'ears'.

She bit her lip.

_I'__m being selfish_, she scolded herself.

_Ichigo deserves this_, she told herself resolutely.

XXX

The sunset had already faded into night when she finally found him. He was walking down the street that run along the Karakura river.

She stopped a moment to stare at the back of his head. The bluish street-lights were creating some odd color effects on his bright hair. A random thought entered her mind. _I__'__ve never seen such a shade of orange_. Then she felt like rolling her eyes at herself.

Ok, so she was getting antsy… Why in hell was she getting antsy!

She took a breath. _This is not like you, Rukia_, she berated herself.

She ran up to him and tapped his shoulder.

He turned and blinked at her in surprise.

_That__'__s right, he doesn__'__t know me_, she reminded herself as she gave him her best school-girl smile. "Hi!"

"Um, hey…?" he tilted his head and looked her over. "Do we go to the same school, or something like that?"

She was slightly taken aback. _Can he possibly__…__?_

"I mean because of the uniform" he added motioning to her clothes.

She looked down. _Of course, the uniform_. She felt like kicking herself and that stupid selfish hope that dared to rear its ugly head.

She quickly repaired the crack in her mask then looked back up at him.

"Actually, yes!" she replied cheerfully. "We used to be in the same class."

"Really?" he frowned in thought. "I never noticed you. Must've been because you're so short, so you were hard to spot." he said with a smirk.

"What!" she exploded and kicked him in the shin. Hard. It was an instinctive reaction, really.

"Fuck." he scrunched his face in pain and bent to touch his bruised shin.

"That fucking hurts, midget!" he growled.

After a moment he looked up as if expecting some sort of reaction from her, but she was just staring at him motionless with a weird expression on her face.

He straightened himself and rose his eyebrows in question waiting for her to say something.

Rukia felt frozen to the spot. It was almost as if…

_No!_ she yelled at herself angrily. _It__'__s just_ _my stupid imagination!_

Something in her chest tightened. She looked to the side and swallowed, but it was no use.

_Ichigo doesn__'__t remember me_, she repeated to herself forcefully, pressing her lips together, _and_ _I should stop bothering him._

But then her gaze slid back to his face, and when she saw that familiar concern in his eyes…

She didn't even know she'd moved, but she found herself hugging him tightly, her face buried in his chest.

It was now Ichigo's time to freeze. His breath caught, his arms twitched slightly as if they wanted to rise of their own volition, but in the end he didn't move.

Rukia was too lost in the moment to notice any of this.

After just a few seconds she realized what she was doing and stepped back blushing furiously and looking everywhere but at him.

"Um, sorry." she muttered, then cleared her throat. "Don't know what came over me."

She expected him to either make fun of her or just shrug her off, but he did neither, so she dared to peek at his face and found him regarding her in a thoughtful way.

She stared back at him for a while, then smiled sadly. "Have a good life, Ok Ichigo?"

He raised an eyebrow in question.

_Ok, so that sentence would sound strange to him_, she conceded.

"Um, I mean, see you around." she said, then started to turn away, but before she could avert her eyes, he caught them with his own.

"See ya', midget." then he smiled, that warm wonderful smile that he gave only to her.

She blinked, then she nodded and turned her back to him.

As she walked away a tiny smile stayed fixed on her face.

_No, that wasn__'__t just my imagination_.

XXX

Ichigo got home even more disgruntled than when he'd left.

He punched his dad in the face before Isshin even got the chance to leap at him, he sat through dinner in a moody silence, then walked up to his room muttering a 'g'night all' and shut his door.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and frowned at what used to be Rukia's closet.

That meeting with the petite shinigami had left his insides in quite a jumble. At first he'd been relieved to see her alright and uninjured, then he'd decided it would be fun to mess with her with his whole 'never seen ya' before' act – no matter how pissed she would get once she found out –, but when he'd noticed she really was upset, he just couldn't do it.

So he'd tried to make her understand without words – she was good at that, at getting him without him needing to explain anything, so good actually it sometimes got annoying. But what about _this_ time?

And let's not forget the most important part.

The thing that had him totally floored (and why he actually couldn't make himself behave like an ass to her).

She'd _hugged_ him.

_Never in a million years I would've thought she would hug me… _

…_and she felt so warm,_ a faint blush crept up his cheeks.

_Ooh…somebody's in looove!_ Hichigo singsonged and snickered mockingly.

_What the hell?_ Ichigo yelled affronted. _I – I was just stating a fact! Human bodies and – um – it seems gigais too produce heat, thus – um – they are warm! That's all there is to it!_

Hichigo paused, blinked, then burst out laughing so hard he almost lost his footing_. T-That's – HA HA HA – that's gotta be the lamest, most pathetic excuse I've ever heard!_

_It's not!_ Ichigo yelled even louder as his face flushed both in anger and embarrassment. _If you don't stop it right now I'm gonna carve you a second hole in that albino chest! 'you hear me?_ But Hichigo only laughed harder. Getting a rise from his King was too easy, really. (1)

_Ichigo_, a deep familiar voice resounded in his mind.

_Zangetsu?_ Ichigo said, pleased to hear his zanpakuto. The Old Man would help him shut that asshole up.

_Ichigo, remember that a wise warrior is always aware of his emotions, because they will affect his inner balance, and consequently his fighting ability. Know thyself_, _Ichigo_, the zanpakuto spirit concluded solemnly.

Ichigo groaned and slapped his face in frustration. _No, not you too Zangetsu!_

He let his head fall back on the pillow and scowled at the ceiling. As he turned his head slightly, he felt a piece of paper brushing against his check. It had a cat paw print on it.

He grabbed it eagerly and read the message: _"LOOK INSIDE YOUR BED-SIDE DRAWER"._

He immediately did so and found another message and a soul candy. _That's Kon!_ _Which means this waiting crap is finally over!_

He peered inside and quickly read the message, without taking it out of the drawer.

"_TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT SHARP WEAR THE WRISTWATCH._

_USE KON TO GET OUT OF YOUR BODY AND COME TO THE SHOP. _

_YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO GET INSIDE. _

_NO SHUNPO."_

_Is he crazy? I have to run ten blocks in 5 minutes without using shunpo? And what wristwatch is he talking about? _He opened the drawer a bit more and something silvery glinted inside. Ichigo looked at the object closely then smirked.

It was one of Urahara's special reiatsu sealing wristbands masked as a wristwatch.

XXX

Ichigo burst inside Urahara's Shoten wheezing and cursing. "Damn you Geta-Boshi! You can't leave me just 5 freaking minutes to come here from my house!"

He collapsed on one of the chairs and took several deep breaths.

"Good evening to you too, Kurosaki-kun!" the shop-keeper greeted pleasantly. "Actually you had a little more time, since I found out the 12th's Monitoring System is switched off for 8 minutes for backup, but I wanted to stay on the safe side." he explained with a smile.

Ichigo glared at him. "You better have some good news, 'cause at this moment I'm really itching to slice you in half." he growled.

"Oh, I see that after two weeks you are in a dreadful need of a good fight." the ex-captain said with a grin as his eyes glinted in challenge under his green striped hat. "We can talk later. Why don't you follow me downstairs for a spar? After all we have six hours before you can go home."

Ichigo smirked and nodded. That actually sounded like a good idea, and it would help him silence that stupid Hollow that was literally raving for some violence.

Since the end of the War – but even before during the brief periods of respite between the battles – he'd started once more to train with Urahara and Yoruichi, because his fights with the Espada and Aizen himself had made him realize a few things.

Even though he possessed a monstrous amount of reiatsu, it wasn't enough. Power is nothing without control.

If his opponent was equally powerful but more skilled, he would lose.

If his opponent was less powerful, but very skilled, he would lose just the same.

And that had almost happened one too many times for his liking, especially at the beginning.

(If it wasn't for his Hollow he wouldn't have survived many fights, and that just wasn't right)

So he'd gone and asked for help from his very first teachers.

Urahara could be a real pain in the ass, but nobody could doubt the ex-captain's mastery in zanjutsu and hakuda, as well as his ability to come up with the most innovative training methods, like the reiatsu sealing wristbands that forced Ichigo to rely less on his raw power and more on his technique and cunning. He'd even improved his reiatsu control, since he didn't have to learn to handle it all together.

Yoruichi, on the other hand, had graciously agreed to 'play tag' with Ichigo once a week, and after a year he could say proudly he was finally as fast as her.

XXX

"We're going to start with sealed zanpakuto, as always, alright?" Urahara said extracting

Benihime from his walking stick.

Ichigo nodded and adjusted the reiatsu sealing wristbands he always used for this kind of training, took his zanpakuto from his back and focused on it, absorbing the excess reiatsu that caused its constant released state.

After a minute Zangetsu still hadn't changed shape. He frowned. _What's going on?_

"Not that easy this time, is it?" Urahara asked with a knowing grin.

Ichigo looked up at him sharply, then back down at his sword. He tried to gauge the spiritual energy he was emitting, and then it finally clicked. He smirked. "You've changed the wristbands again, haven't you?"

"Yep!" his teacher's grin widened "Sealing Zangetsu with one third of you power was becoming too easy, so it was time to increase the difficulty-level. Now only half of your reiatsu is sealed."

Ichigo's eyes widened. _What? But it took me six months to go from managing a tenth_ _of my reiatsu to a third, and now we're jumping straight to a half ! _

_Just focus Ichigo, _Zangetsu's voice whispered in his ear, _you know how to do it._

_Alright, Old Man_, Ichigo said, trusting his zanpakuto's words. If it hadn't been for Zangetsu's help he wouldn't have progressed as much as he did in the past year. The spirit had suggested him some new ways to use his Getsuga Tenshou, as well as how to seal his shikai, even though he still wasn't able to do it without the help of Urahara's wristbands.

After a couple minutes Ichigo finally felt the now familiar shift in Zangetsu's weight.

"I'm ready." the Substitute said raising the simple katana with a red hilt and silver blade.

As it moved, a long piece of white cloth unwrapped from around the hilt and hung from its end. (2)

The ex-captain studied him for a moment. _Impressive, he did it in just a few minutes…but let's see how long he manages to keep his concentration_, he smirked, noticing how tense his student was.

They lunged at each other, zanpakutos clashing in mid air…

TBC

XXX

NEXT CHAPTER: you get to see some more of Ichigo's progress after all his training and much much more!

So people, how did you like the IchiRuki moments? DeviantHollow23 told me it might be a bit too much for Rukia to HUG Ichigo, but I say the romance gotta start somewhere! ^_^ I hope though it was still InC!

(1) I wasn't exactly sure whether Hichigo does or doesn't have a hole in the chest, but I know that (SPOILER ALERT) when Ichi turns into a full Hollow, he does, so that thing Ichi says should be OK. If not, let me know, please.

(2) Remember the sword Ichigo had before he unsealed Zangetsu? The only difference is that now its size is normal, because Ichigo has finally learned to better control his reiatsu. BTW, I do remember it was broken, but I think Zangetsu wouldn't have any problems restoring it.

A last question for my readers: did anybody actually get in that in chapter 3 Yuzu and Karin are wearing Urahara's pink "lentils" too? And what that implies? Hmm…maybe it was too subtle.


	5. Chapter 5

First, I'm going to explain a couple things from the previous chapters, because from some reviews I got that maybe some things weren't so clear:

- Yuzu and Karin are wearing the same lentil-like devices that Urahara gave to Ichi's friends to make them temporarily forget. This will serve a purpose in the future. Meanwhile I'm sure you all get that Urahara spoke to the Kurosaki family too when all this mess started.

-I know you liked the Ichiruki hug (thanks again for the wonderful reviews!), but I just wanted to stress that Rukia did it because she thought she was never going to see Ichigo again!

OK, I think that's all.

XXX

Many thanks to DeviantHollow23 for beta-ing!

_- PREVIOUSLY -_

"_I'm ready." the Substitute said raising the simple katana with a red hilt and silver blade. _

_As it moved, a long piece of white cloth unwrapped from around the hilt and hung from its end. _

_The ex-captain studied him for a moment. _Impressive, he did it in just a few minutes…but let's see how long he manages to keep his concentration,_ he smirked, noticing how tense his student was._

_They lunged at each other, zanpakutos clashing in mid air. _

CHAPTER 5

The fight quickly moved up in the skies, their movements so fast that the human eye could barely follow.

Ichigo aimed low and to the right, but Urahara blocked stepping back, and with a flick of his wrist swung Benihime towards the younger shinigami's throat.

In a split second Ichigo's sword was up protecting him from the slash and at the same time he used Urahara's momentary open stance to jab him hard to the liver with his left.

The ex-captain winced and quickly changed his tactics feinting and attacking from different directions, trying to catch Ichigo off-guard. Several times he got really close but Ichigo always managed to parry and sidestep in the nick of time.

_Well, look at that, half reiatsu sealed and he's so fast I can barely keep up with him! _Urahara thought when Ichigo once again avoided his attack and retaliated with a combination of high and low reiatsu-powered slashes.

_It's high time I come up with something or my student will think I have nothing left to teach him!_

In the following second he purposefully lowered his left guard and Kurosaki immediately aimed in that direction. The ex-captain ducked at the last possible moment and lunged for his opponent's abdomen.

The move startled Ichigo, who barely managed to sidestep, but he felt Benihime's blade slide along his side, cutting his flesh. He scowled. An inch to the left and he would have been stabbed.

_He's always the same cunning bastard!_ …but, after all, that was the reason why he'd chosen Urahara to be his teacher.

Now though he was itching to wipe that sly smirk off the ex-captain's face.

_Yo King! _his Hollow called_. Just blast his ass next time he dares to come that close! _

_Since when are you so interested in my spars with Geta-Boshi?_ Ichigo commented distrustfully while parrying another hit from Urahara.

_Since there's nothing better to do_, he drawled, _so ya' heard me? A nice Cero to the chest should do the job._

_And how exactly do you suggest I avoid frying my _own_ ass in the process?_ Ichigo asked while attacking his opponent with another combination of slashes. He still had problems controlling the huge amount of energy contained in a Cero, so firing one at point-blank range didn't seem like the smartest idea.

_Who cares? You can heal yourself later_, Hichigo shrugged in dismissal, _not like the shop-keep'll be able to do anything after that._

Ichigo felt like rolling his eyes. _You'd think you idiotic egomaniac would've learnt to care about this body just a little in all this time. Not like you have another one!_

_Suit yourself…pussy, _Hichigo shot back.

Now Ichigo really wanted to go and bash the idiot's head, but unfortunately at the moment he was too busy dodging Urahara's own Hado blast.

_Ichigo_, Zangetsu chose to intervene, _the Hollow has a point. You can surprise your opponent turning a punch into a reiatsu blast the moment he thinks he's avoided your hit._

_But how? _Ichigo asked, while Urahara inflicted a shallow cut on his right shoulder.

_Can you feel all that spiritual energy boiling under your skin, trying to get out?_

_Yes. _Actually he was having quite a hard time keeping it in check, not letting it spill out enough to unseal his weapon, which was the whole point of this exercise.

_Then, at the right time, channel it along your arm and release it towards your opponent. It's the same principle as with Shunpo, just use a major amount of reiatsu, _Zangetsu explained_._

_What? You mean without any kind of incantation? _This had him a bit worried – 3rd degree burns weren't any fun.

_Trust me, Ichigo._

Ichigo pressed his lips together and took a decision_. To hell with it…I'm doing it._

Some moves later he found the right opening.

_Now!_ He heard the double echo of Zangetsu and Hichigo in his mind.

While blocking Benihime with his own sword, he extended his left as if to punch the ex-captain's side, but, as expected, Urahara moved slightly out of its range.

In that same moment Ichigo gathered his reiatsu and pushed it out of his left palm aiming at the opponent's chest.

The black blast that resulted lacked any finesse or the strength of Cero, but at that distance and without any protection, it was simply devastating.

The ex-captain flew back about a hundred feet before landing in a heap, while Ichigo stared at his left hand in amazement. _…and it's just slightly singed!_

Urahara got up after a minute coughing and wheezing. "Well, that was a surprise Kurosaki-kun!".

Ichigo shot him a self-satisfied smirk, but it didn't last long after Urahara added "You won the spar, but not the game" pointing at his weapon.

Ichigo glanced at Zangetsu and scowled. It was unsealed. _Damn it!_

Meanwhile the shop-owner was inspecting his scorched kimono mournfully, then with a sigh he looked back up at his student "Since you've managed such a good no-name reiatsu blast, why don't you show me some Kido?"

Ichigo swallowed. He remembered all too well the huge explosions and extensive burns to his arms that usually followed all of his attempts at Kido – which was why he used it only as a last resort.

"Come on, after what you've just shown me, that should be a walk in the park!" the ex-captain added teasingly.

Ichigo scowled. Even though they both knew 'walk in the park' was very far from describing reality, he wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

_OK, let's do something easy_. He located a 6-foot rock near them, focused on his reiatsu and chanted "Bakudo N. 4: Hainawa!"

Ichigo felt the heat of the bright energy rope as it coiled around his fingers, then a second later it shot towards the rock at the speed of light, wrapping around it.

The rock suddenly crumbled under the pressure and he winced. _Too much, definitely too much, but at least my fingers are just a little reddened!_

"Hmm…" Urahara tapped his chin with his fan "What do you think Tessai-san?" he asked the former Kido Corps captain that had been observing the whole thing.

The huge man turned to Kurosaki with an unreadable face. "Please, show us a Hado"

Definitely not what Ichigo wanted to hear, but he had to admit he was a bit curious if he might have improved here too.

He chose Rukia's favorite, since he knew it by heart. He located another rock in the distance, positioned his hands and started.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado N. 33: Sokatsui!"

A huge blue ball of light flared dangerously in front of his right palm.

He was loosing control of it!

_No! I'm not gonna let it explode on me!_ With a mighty effort he managed to somehow stabilize it and it shot at lightening speed towards its target.

The explosion that followed blinded all the present.

Ichigo took a few deep breaths. His hands were hurting like a bitch, but this time he'd managed to avoid burning off a couple layers of flesh. Actually he was feeling quite proud of himself.

"Exactly as I thought," Tessai spoke "too much reiatsu and too little control. You almost didn't make it there for a moment, but I'm sure with my help you'll be able to get much better!" he grinned, giving Ichigo a thumbs up.

Ichigo turned to the two ex-captains and raised an eyebrow "Care to tell me why we're suddenly so focused on Kido?"

"Well," Urahara smiled clapping his hands "I think it's time for that talk"

XXX

The three sat on some rocks, Ichigo looking at Urahara expectantly, but the shop-owner was taking his sweet time – as usual.

Fortunately, before Ichigo's annoyance reached its limit, the older shinigami started – and dropped his bomb.

"Tessai-san and I are going to train you to enter the Shinigami Academy!" he said grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Aren't you excited?"

Silence.

Ichigo stared at him for several seconds, then he finally blinked and his brows knitted in suspicion "Are you high?"

"Oh no! Not at all!", the shop-owner chuckled "There's no reason to be worried Kurosaki-kun, you have over two months to prepare for the Academy recruitment exams, and the best possible teachers at your disposal!" he finished pointing with flourish first at himself, then at the fellow ex-captain.

Ichigo's left eye started twitching.

"Who the hell's worried?" he growled. "Stop spouting non-sense! I'm supposed to not even know of the existence of shinigami, and you want me to attend the freaking Academy!" he yelled in Urahara's face. "And what the hell for!"

The older shinigami ignored the outburst and replied smiling "Everything will make sense. Just listen carefully, alright?"

"Then let's hear it" he said, irritation lacing his words. He leaned back a little, crossed his arms and waited.

Urahara tipped his hat and launched into his explanation. "I've discovered who started the whole idea of 'rewarding' you and your friends for your services in the War. He's the most powerful and influential member of the new Central 46 and…" he paused for dramatic effect "…his name is Yamamoto Ideyoshi".

Ichigo's eyebrows shot up in surprise "Is he related to…"

"Yep, he's the Sou-taicho's younger brother"

"OK," Ichigo nodded "so we've gotta find out his reasons, but I still don't see the connection with the Academy."

Urahara smiled smugly. "He happens to be its headmaster as well as the founder of the most exclusive student club in the Academy, the 'Four Sakura Leaves'. Of course he's also very respected and very powerful".

"Then why isn't he a captain?" Ichigo asked more and more interested.

"That's a good question, actually, but rumor has it – mind you, very few people know this – that many centuries ago he was indeed one of the most probable candidates for a Taicho's position, but then something happened that forced him into retirement from active duty and also…" another dramatic pause followed "…Central 46 had part of _his own_ powers sealed".

Now Ichigo was starting to get where this was going. "The old man's gotta be holding a hell of a grudge against somebody in the Seireitei –"

Urahara smirked and nodded.

" – but what have me and my friends got to do with it?"

"That's what you're going to have to uncover, but it's a starting point, isn't it?" he grinned. "There's also another interesting fact that may or may not help you in your investigation.

"In the year since the War, four of the most promising students of the Academy have disappeared into thin air and, coincidentally, they were all members of his club. It may mean nothing, but…" he let it hanging there.

"So," Ichigo scratched the back of his head thoughtfully "basically I have to get in the Academy then apply for this 'Leaves' club and see what's up."

"Exactly, though you can get in only by invitation."

"Whatever." Ichigo waved his hand. "The most important question here is, how the hell am I going to avoid being recognized?"

"Indeed you're quite a popular guy there at the moment." Kisuke chuckled, thinking of some posters – Shinigami Women Association special edition – that Yoruichi had gotten her hands on. Good thing Kurosaki hadn't seen them yet, or he would have already murdered all the ladies there.

"But that's the least of our problems now!" he patted the younger shinigami on the shoulder, receiving a glare in return. "Tessai-san has developed a foolproof disguise for you".

Ichigo's eyes turned to the kido master, who stood up and walked in front of him. "I'm going to perform a Bakudo on you." the huge ex-captain informed him.

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed, but he let him do his thing.

Tessai raised his hands, palms facing the sides if Ichigo's head and intoned:

"Lord of the Night

hide the seas

with brown skies"

– he brushed Ichigo's hair –

"Lord of the Night

hide the hills

with wide clouds"

– he tapped his nose –

"Bakudo N. 26.62: Transmutation!"

Ichigo felt a weird prickling in the area of his hair and nose, that made him sneeze then touch his nose automatically.

Something felt wrong. Very wrong. _What the hell did he do?_

He glanced up at the two men and found them looking at him while grinning like madmen – which meant the thing was possibly even worse than he thought.

"Wonderful job Tessai-san. I think it suits him!" Urahara said.

"Thank you! It took quite some time to develop just the right kido, but the result speaks for itself!" the other replied happily.

Now Ichigo started panicking. "What the fuck did you do to me!"

Still grinning, Kisuke produced a medium sized mirror seemingly from nowhere and handed it to him.

Ichigo stared at his reflection for a long minute, touching his hair and nose several times. _It surely serves its purpose but…ugh!_

His hair was now dark brown and curly and his nose, well, probably the best way to describe it was 'large and flat'. As he'd just thought, 'ugh!'. (1)

…and Hichigo laughing his ass off in the back of his mind wasn't helping.

"It isn't permanent, is it?" he asked warily.

"Of course not!" Tessai seemed almost affronted "I made this Bakudo especially for you, attuned to your Reiryoku, so it's almost undetectable and you can also turn it on and off at will!" he said proudly. "It even tweaks the quality oy your reiatsu!"

Ichigo couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him. Then, looking at his sword, he asked "Did you also create a disguise for Zangetsu's Shikai?"

"No, it wouldn't be practical. You'll just have to never unseal Zangetsu." Tessai replied simply.

"O..kay" Ichigo drawled. "So, are you telling me that students without a Shikai can enter this most exclusive club?" he asked skeptically.

"Of course!" Kisuke nodded "…but only if they're _really_ good in all the other combat techinques!"

"Which means," Tessai cut in "that we're gonna turn you into a master in kido and reiatsu control!" he finished with an enthusiastic grin.(2)

Ichigo gulped. Suddenly he wasn't so sure that two months would be enough to prepare for his mission!

XXX TBC XXX

NEXT CHAPTER: The Academy! – I'm sure you're all thinking 'finally!', well, me too!

Here's some question for you:

- Did you like the fight? Could you imagine the moves I was describing? And, most important, was it cool? ^_-

- IMPORTANT: How much are you interested in reading about Ichi's training? I'm thinking of including that as short flashbacks, but if you don't care, I won't !

(1) once I saw on youtube a slideshow about celebs that got a nose-job (too many, really), and I found it really incredible how much that can change a person!

BTW, I didn't change just his hair, because I think it's obvious that wouldn't be enough! People usually recognize others even when they change hair color! ^_^

(2) Please, don't think that what Tessai says is necessarily true! I'd never turn Ichigo into an overpowered Mary Sue – or Gary Stu, since he's male.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello people! I'm sorry it took me some time to update, but I had a minor fight with my muse so I had to beat it into submission. Fortunately my awesome beta, DeviantHollow23, helped me with that :D

Anyway, to make up for the wait, this chapter is extra long!

_/ / /_

_Flashbacks._

_/ / /_

§I§

Change of point of view.

§I§

**CHAPTER 6**

*** TWO MONTHS LATER ***

Ichigo was running like crazy through the maze of Seireitei's streets, the huge bag thrown over his shoulder hitting rhythmically into his back,.

He was scowling at the map Urahara had drawn for him, desperately trying to make some sense of it.

_Shit! Shit! Shit! The recruitment exams are starting in ten minutes and I still haven't found the freaking Academy!_

_Just locate it, you dumbass,_Hichigo scoffed rolling his eyes_, look for a place with a large group of people with unrefined reiatsu, or something like that._

"I'd already thought about that_", _Ichigo hissed icily. Well, he hadn't, but that wasn't the point.

He halted for a moment, and focused. It had taken him countless (frustrating) hours, but he was finally able to suppress completely his own spiritual pressure, which in turn enabled him to perceive and analyze that of others without the help of any spells or devices.

_/ / /_

"_Kurosaki-kun, I think it's high time you learn to completely control and contain that huge reiatsu of yours, what do you say?" Urahara asked with a pleasant smile. _

_Ichigo nodded seriously. He knew this was his biggest handicap. He couldn't rely forever on various Bakudos or nifty devices to do it for him. "What do you suggest?" _

"_I think we should do it a bit at a time." The shop- keeper took out two huge reiatsu sealing wristbands and handed them to Ichigo. "I remember these worked fine the last time, didn't they?" he grinned. _

_The boy recognized them immediately, as they were the first pair he'd used when training to seal his shikai. They were incredibly heavy and sealed 95% of his reiatsu. _

"_We're playing hide and seek. You have 30 seconds to hide and suppress your __remaining spiritual pressure." Urahara informed him. "Oh, and, whenever I find you, you get a beating" he added with a smirk. _

_Ichigo returned the smirk as his eyes flashed in challenge. "I won't be that easy to find". He put on the wristband__s and shunpo-ed away. _

_/ / /_

He'd finally found the right direction, but he didn't dare attract attention by jumping on the rooftops so…"I'd love to kill the idiot that designed this damned labyrinth!" he muttered angrily.

He turned another corner at full speed…

…and crashed hard against somebody.

"Oh shit, this hurts!" he grabbed his aching nose and squeezed his eyes in pain.

"Ouch, man! Look where you're going!" the other complained, but to Ichigo's surprise the guy didn't start throwing insults at him.

When he finally checked, Ichigo found a lanky boy, a couple inches shorter than him, clutching his head where it had met Ichigo's nose.

The guy looked about his age, maybe younger, but his serious green eyes suggested that he'd probably been in Soul Society for many years, and, judging by his clothes, he hadn't been living in the nicer parts of Rukongai.

"I'm really sorry, man" Ichigo apologized "but I'm really in a hurry. Do you know by any chance where's the Shino Academy entrance?"

The boy smirked and pointed to the left.

At a hundred feet distance Ichigo saw a big gateway that gave access to an open courtyard which was milling with people.

_Finally!_ Ichigo relaxed, then turned again to the boy. "Thanks. Hey, are you here for the exams too? 'cause I think they're about to start".

"Yeah" he nodded "but I'm waiting out here for someone".

Just then, out of nowhere, a little kid that looked about eight jumped on the guy's back squealing "Nii-chan!"

The big brother smiled. "You almost didn't make it." he said teasingly.

"Not true!" the child pouted "I told you I'd come to cheer you on!"

"So," Ichigo spoke up turning towards the gateway "I'm going in. What about you?"

"We're coming." the older brother said as the two caught up to Ichigo.

"By the way, I'm Kasshoku Kaito" the name rolled smoothly out of Ichigo's mouth.

"Because of the hair?" the other asked raising a brow. (1)

"Yeah" Ichigo smirked.

"Well, I'm Mori Hideki, and the little pest here is Fusamo." Hideki said pointing at his little brother.

"Ah, so you're into gardening." Ichigo punned. (1)

"Actually our grandpa is." Hideki shrugged nonchalantly.

XXX

As he waited, Ichigo observed all those shinigami wannabes. There were hundreds of people, some looked quite young, some as if they were in their thirties, but no more than that. He remembered that Rukia once had told him that only those with a significant amount of reiatsu looked young even if they'd died at an old age.

After he focused on their spiritual pressure, he could tell some of these people really had some, even Hideki, who was currently trying to do some meditation – and how he did it with all that noise was a mystery to Ichigo –, had potential.

Suddenly the door of one of the buildings opened and the crowd fell silent. Six figures came out and one of them started a boring welcoming speech.

Ichigo glanced at them with interest. Three of them he didn't know, while two others were seated officers of the 5th and 11th division, but the real surprise was Omaeda Marechiyo's presence.

He_'s one of the examiners? If so, this has just gotten a lot more interesting, _he smirked.

XXX

Three hours later Ichigo was bored sick.

He was still in the Academy courtyard, sitting on the ground next to his bag and waiting for his turn.

He'd spent some of the time talking with Hideki – so now he knew the two brothers were from the 45th District – but at the moment the boy was inside taking the exam, so Ichigo was sort of stuck baby-sitting Fusamo, who just didn't seem to know when to shut up.

The kid was currently going on and on about some great battle and Ichigo pretended to listen, while he was actually reviewing his strategy for the exam and discussing the finer points with Zangetsu.

"Hey guys, I'm back." Hideki's voice sounded behind his back.

Ichigo turned and raised a brow in question. "So?"

A wide grin split his face. "I'm in!"

"Hooray!" Fusamo squealed in excitement "You're great Nii-chan! I bet you'll become even stronger than Kurosaki-sama!"

Hideki chuckled. "I'll try".

Ichigo froze "Kurosaki _who_?"

Funamo turned to him almost affronted "Kurosaki Ichigo-sama, the great War Hero, _of course_!" the kid yelled, as if Ichigo had insulted his favorite comics character. "I've been talking about how he saved us for the past half hour!"

Ichigo blinked. _Really? _Then he furrowed his brows,_ and what's with the '-sama'?_

Hideki smiled and patted his little brother's head. "Sometimes Fusamo tends to get carried away, but Kurosaki-sama really did save our life!

Actually that's why I decided to become a shinigami. I want to be able to protect all the people I care about", he added with determination.

_Huh? _I_ inspired him to be a shinigami?_ – that felt kind of strange.

On the other hand Ichigo was now getting curious. _Where did I meet him? Hmm… _"

"When exactly was this?" he asked.

"It was a year and a half ago," Hideki replied "a group of Hollows had attacked Rukongai and five of those monsters were about to eat me and Funamo when Kurosaki-sama jumped in front of us and slashed them to bits with his huge Zanpakuto in, like, 5 seconds!" he recounted, hero-worship shining in his eyes.

"Then as another group appeared, he took us to safety, while at the same time blasting them to smithereens!" he said waving his hand as if he was firing a Cero.

Ichigo winced. This was just… weird. But at least now he remembered when he'd met the guy. It had been during the Hollows surprise attack to Rukongai, orchestrated by Aizen just to create a diversion. He'd casually found himself in the middle of that battle, and he remembered it had been quite a mess, too many Hollows and too many defenseless people.

Meanwhile Hideki's story had attracted the attention of several people around.

"Oh wow, you _really _got to meet Kurosaki-sama? How is he in person?" a short guy asked eagerly from Ichigo's left.

"And you got to see him fight! You're _so_ lucky!" another one popped up from Ichigo's right, pushing him aside.

"Hey, watch it!"Ichigo scowled at the back of the guy's head, but he was ignored. This was getting too damn surreal!

"What color are his eyes?" a girl asked dreamily, while closing in on the story-teller with two other adoring fan girls, while one of them whipped out some kind of picture and started waving it in front of Hideki's eyes.

As Ichigo caught a flash of orange, his eyes widened in horror. _What the hell! Where did that chick get _my_ photograph?_

He was suddenly _very_ grateful for Tessai's disguise.

_Better get far _far_ away from these creeps! _He started slowly edging away from the crowd that had formed, leaving Hideki – who was trying to answer all the questions – to his fate.

"Uhm, I think it's my turn" he muttered – not that anybody cared or heard–, then he grabbed his bag, turned on his heel and swiftly walked away.

XXX

Omaeda Marechiyo yawned for, like, the 50th time that day, as he waited for the next loser in today's endless line of people to enter and show his 'skills'.

_I still can't understand why Soifon-taicho had to get so pissy about me not going after those Hollows, _he whined inwardly_, I _so_ deserve a vacation after that fucking war!_

Omaeda had been ordered to attend to the examination as sort of a 'punishment' by his captain, because he'd sent three shinigami on a mission in his place. Soifon had told him that since he so carelessly risked the lives of the people in their squad, he may as well start looking for the next replacements.

So here he was.

_-Yawn_-

The kid that had just entered was now saying his name – Kasshoku something – and all the other required personal info, but Omaeda was only half-paying attention.

Then, with a tilt of his head he signaled to his assistant – the 14th seat of his Division– to start with the first test, he opened a new bag of chips under his desk, and prepared himself for another boring half hour.

§I§

Ichigo felt slightly nervous as he studied Terada-san, that is his first opponent-slash-examiner in Hoho and Hakuda.

Urahara had instructed him to pull his punches and not to use shunpo – they'd had actual 'acting' lessons on how to pretend you can't fight well! – but what had him worried was that his reiatsu still had a tendency to flare during a fight if he didn't stay focused on that aspect.

What's more, he was very aware of the presence of the Academy's headmaster, a certain scheming Yamamoto Ideyoshi he needed to impress. He looked like an elderly man with grey hair and steely blue eyes, whose only presence commanded respect as much as his older brother's.

A blonde female shinigami called the beginning of the test.

_Free your mind from all these unnecessary thoughts_, he heard Zangetsu's deep voice, so he did just that.

§I§

Terada-san started out slowly, but as he saw that the kid had no problems dodging his attacks, he started to increase his tempo, but without using shunpo as the candidates obviously were not able to keep up with such a speed.

On the other hand…

_T__his Kasshoku is really fast_, he observed almost immediately _…and _strong_,_ he added to himself as one of Ichigo's punches hit his abdomen.

After 10 minutes of intense sparring, the 14th seat expected the candidate to start getting tired, but the kid was still fresh as a rose.

_Is it possible he has __that much reiatsu?_ he wondered just before a roundhouse kick got him in the head, making him fly for 20 feet.

§I§

"Very good Kasshoku-san" one of the examiners complimented Ichigo, who thanked and bowed.

"Who taught you to fight?" another shinigami from the committee asked.

"Um," Ichigo scratched the back of his head "Nobody really, but I have this feeling I was a Martial Artist when I was alive" he said with a shrug, but knowing very well what this admission implied in all the shinigami's heads: 'keeps memories from life = high reiatsu'.

"Very well!" the shinigami nodded and smiled, as did half of the others.

Ichigo smirked inwardly and out of the corner of his eyes he glanced at the headmaster trying to gauge his reaction, but the old man wore the same stoic expression. _Looks like I need to do something more 'flashy'._

Ichigo glanced at Omaeda, noticing that the arrogant prick seemed to have finally woken from his stupor.

_Let's see if I manage to get __him off his lazy ass_, Ichigo stared Omaeda directly in the eyes and, without averting them, he spoke to the committee. "With your permission, I'd like to show you some more of my skills in Martial Arts".

"We'd love to see them" the same female shinigami answered, "but unfortunately the time is– "

"Well, I'm eager to see them!" Omaeda cut in with an overconfident grin as he stood up from his seat.

"But Omaeda-san –" the blonde shinigami protested feebly. She was ignored as her colleagues started to get curious.

"Thank you" Ichigo bowed once more, but inwardly he too was grinning.

_Perfect_.

§I§

_This kid isn't half-bad_, Marechiyo had to admit, as he watched Kasshoku kick his 14th seat's ass.

_And it looks like he may possess some reiatsu_, he mused as he heard him answer the questions. _Maybe_ _I could mention him to Soifon-taicho, since that's what's she's looking for._

Suddenly Kasshoku's eyes met his as the kid spoke of showing more of his skills.

_What? Is he seriously challenging _me_?_ he thought truly affronted.

_Very well_, he grinned, _that punk has no idea what he's getting into!_

"Well, I'm eager to see them!" Omaeda cut off the whiny blonde shinigami and stood up.

He strutted towards the candidate and stopped in front of him, but that brown-haired boy didn't seem to be intimidated by him. Time to rectify that.

"I'm Omaeda Marechiyo, 2nd Division fukutaicho and Corps Commander of the Patrol Corps in the Onmitsukidō" he boasted puffing his chest "but don't worry kid, I'll go easy on you!"

The kid nodded nonchalantly and took a defensive stance.

§I§

_What a buffoon__, he never changes_, Ichigo seriously felt the need to roll his eyes, _I'm _so_ looking forward to wipe the floor with that arrogant ass!_

He sprang towards Omaeda and surprised him with a combination of punches that the lieutenant barely blocked. He followed it up with two jabs to the ribcage that flawlessly hit their target, and a low kick to the knee the moment Omaeda moved to regain his balance.

_Careful Ichigo_, Zangetsu warned, _remember where you are and why you're doing this._

_You're right Old Man_, Ichigo instantly sobered and slowed down his movements.

§I§

Omaeda grimaced in pain as he grabbed the side where he'd been hit_. Owowoww! This punk really packs a punch and how can he be so fast?_ _His speed verges on shunpo!_ he thought in a panic.

_No, that surely was just a lucky–… SHIT!_ _The kid almost tripped me!_

To evade the next kick Omaeda had to use a flash-step – which everybody in the committee noticed – and retaliated with his own punch-kick combination that – surprisingly – hit their targets _…huh?_

Anyway Marechiyo didn't have much time to question why his opponent's speed had suddenly decreased, he concluded the boy was just getting tired.

In the following exchange the kid blocked and dodged most of Omaeda's attacks but didn't try to retaliate. _Hah! He's finally getting who he's up against!_

§I§

Ichigo casually – from his point of view – blocked Marechiyo's attacks and surreptiously glanced at the Headmaster.

The elderly man seemed to be following their movements with interest.

_Looks like I've finally gotten his attention. Good__, time to end this farce. _He knew he couldn't afford beating a lieutenant just yet, so this had to be enough.

During the following exchange, Ichigo lowered his guard just enough to make it look as a mistake and got knocked hard to the ground.

"Don't feel bad, kid" Marechiyo said with a mocking grin "You were very brave to go up against somebody like me, and I'm sure that, if you train a lot, in some years you'll be able to join the 2nd Division!"

"Thank you, Omaeda-fukutaicho" Ichigo bowed formally, hiding his smirk. The buffoon had served his purpose, and Ichigo had made sure that the ass would be going home with a nice purple side.

"You were very good indeed, Kasshoku-san", the shinigami Ichigo knew from the 11th said, while the others nodded. "Now it's time for the next test. My name is Takegawa Hiro, and I'll be testing you in Zanjutsu."

He stood up and walked in front of him. "Please, choose one of the swords we have on display".

Ichigo nodded. He made a choice keeping in mind Urahara's advice to show his skills in this form of combat as little as possible. The sword he picked was wide and short, and was far too light compared to Zangetsu. As he glanced at it, he knew this test was going to require all his acting abilities.

He held it like a tennis racket and took the same stance as if he was fighting bare-handed. "I'm ready".

Takegawa-san cocked an eyebrow and chuckled. "Have you got any previous experience in Zanjutsu?"

"Um no, not really" Ichigo lied smoothly.

"Oh well, let's see what you can do", and with that the shinigami unsheated his sword and lunged.

For the following five minutes Ichigo made a wonderful job of avoiding and dodging Takegawa's slashes, using his own sword only as a protection as if it was a short staff or swinging it like a baseball-bat whenever he tried to attack.

When Takegawa-san stopped, he gave a friendly smile to Ichigo. "You're very quick on your feet, and I'm sure that with the right instruction you'll improve greatly!"

Ichigo thanked and waited for the last test to begin: Kido.

_Oh __damn…_

XXXTBCXXX

NEXT CHAPTER: some Kido, some Rukia… ^_- …and much more!

**A/N**

– I hope you didn't get disapponted that I couldn't have Ichigo show off too much, but I think you understand it would blow his cover! On the other hand, how do you like Ichigo's fan club? - and this is just the beginning, believe me! *insert evil chuckle*

– An additional note on Ichigo's nose: when I was deciding what it would look like, I was imagining the kind of shape that many people in South-East Asia have, it's somehow wider and quite flat, and since Ichigo's nose is quite narrow, I felt the need to describe the new one as 'large', but keep in mind it's nothing like an African nose!

**(1)**Possible meanings of the names (as you already know with Ichigo's name, in Japanese a word that has the same sound can mean several things, and you know the difference only when you see it written in _Kanji/Hiragana_ ):

Kasshoku (brown) Kaito (the sea+ the Big Dipper/Ursa Major)

Mori (forest) Hideki (excellent tree)

Mori (forest) Fusamo (whorl-leaf water milfoil – a kind of tree)


	7. Chapter 7

I have 106 reviews after 6 chapters! I'm SO happy you people are enjoying this so much!

This is also why I'm really sorry that it took me 3 weeks to update! I know it gets hard to follow a story when there's too much time between updates, which means that if I see something like that may happen again, I'll post a shorter chapter, just so that I don't let you hanging (you should know that the first half of this chapter was already written 10 days ago!).

As always, the chapter is beta-ed by the fastest beta in the world: DeviantHollow23 !

* * *

/ / /

Flashbacks.

/ / /

.

§I§

Change of point of view

§I§

.

- PREVIOUSLY -

_Ichigo thanked and waited for the last test to begin: Kido._

Oh damn…

CHAPTER 7

There was a woman among the examination committee that had been studying Ichigo like a hawk since the beginning, which made him wonder if she suspected something.

She looked to be around forty-five, judging by the few grey hairs among the black and the slight lines under her eyes, but Ichigo knew very well that as a shinigami she had to be several centuries old, which also meant she had examined her fair share of candidates in all this time.

_But that doesn't necessarily mean she's a reiatsu expert_, Ichigo reasoned with himself. He _really_ didn't need another thing to worry about.

"Kasshoku-san" the woman addressed him with an even voice "I'm Toyotomi Arisu, one of the Academy's Kido teachers".

_Just fan-fucking-tastic._ Ichigo felt an intense need to start pulling at his hair, but with a mighty effort he managed to keep his face blank and his hands still.

"Do you already know any Kido?" the woman asked.

"Yes I do, Toyotomi-san." he nodded "Some years ago I saw some shinigami execute some spells, and I've been practicing those ever since." he said, anticipating the obvious question.

"Then please, show us what you can do on that gigai in the corner."

Ichigo glanced at the anonymous thing and raised an eyebrow. It was held up on its feet in some way he couldn't see and, judging by the blackened spots on it, the previous candidates hadn't been very gentle with it.

_Alright_, Ichigo took a few deep breaths, _calm and focused, calm and focused, and nothing will blow up…hopefully_.

_/ / / _

_Tessai watched as his pupil raised his left hand, palm facing a boulder distant a good 300 feet , positioned his right hand on the left arm and started focusing his reiatsu. _

_Even though the effects weren't visible yet, the Kido teacher could feel the static in the air. _

_Just a moment more and…_

"_Hado N. 88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" Ichigo shouted as a gigantic electric blast erupted from his left hand and sped towards its target obliterating everything in its path.(1)_

_When the dust finally settled, Ichigo observed his handy-work with a cocky smirk. _Ha, Rukia's jaw will drop when I show her what I can do!

"_Excellent, Kurosaki-kun" Tessai commented and Ichigo's smirk grew even bigger. "I just wish you did the lower number spells with as much nonchalance". _

"_Yeah, yeah…" he muttered rolling his eyes. _As if I hadn't been working my ass off for the past 6 weeks!

_It was funny, really. Everybody moaned about the difficulties with the more powerful spells but, after Tessai's coaching, he was able to do most of them._

_The lower numbers , though, were a sore point. Tessai had explained to him that in his case it was all tied to the ability not to infuse a spell with too much reiatsu, since some lower number Kido couldn't bear more than a certain amount, otherwise they became unstable, or you had to be able to compress the excess reiatsu to sort of 'fit the mold of the spell' as the ex-captain had said.(2)_

"_Oh my," Urahara sighed walking up to them "you almost blew up the whole place and the shop above!"_

"_Sorry, Urahara-san__.__" Ichigo mumbled._

"_And it will take me Kami knows how long to restore everything!" he kept whining. "But," he grinned suddenly "you can at least show me some of your progress! What about a 'Hado N. 4: Byakurai'? You can use that rock as a target__.__" he pointed at one sitting a hundred feet from them._

_Ichigo looked at him sharply – because of course Urahara had to ask for a Kido that required a lot of control. _

No matter_, he raised his hand and started…_

_/ / /_

Ichigo stared at the target and raised his left hand, deciding to start with 'Bakudo N. 4: Hainawa'. It was common enough, but more showy than the lower numbers.

_Alright, I've done this countless times, no idiotic Geta-Boshi to fuck up my concentration_ – he could still feel the burns on his hands after that botched up Byakurai two weeks ago – _so everything's gonna run smoothl-_

_Hey King_, Hichigo's voice popped up in his mind, _would you like some help?_ the hollow asked with the sweetest – and most creepiest – voice.

_Of course, _dear_, I'm sure a Bala would be the best way to impress the commission, _Ichigo replied, sarcasm dripping from every word.

_And hadn't we _established_ you would hide for the whole time of the exam?" _he finished yelling.

_Touchy touchy_, the hollow drawled, for _example I'm sure that fat ass you fought before could use losing some body parts, he would immediately feel lighter, _HIchigo licked his lips, imagining all the bloodshed involved.

Ichigo's left eye started twitching, but he knew now really wasn't the time to argue with that psycho. _May I remind you, idiot, that if Seireitei finds me out, you can say goodbye to your beloved violence and hello to eternal sleep?_

That argument finally seemed to shut him up and Ichigo sighed in relief.

"Is there any problems, Kasshoku-san?" Toyotomi Arisu asked, a note of impatience clear in her voice.

Ichigo blinked, realizing he'd stayed frozen in the same position for some time. "No Toyotomi-san. I was –ehm– focusing".

"We're waiting." the examiner said in a no-nonsense tone.

Ichigo swiftly waved his hand, chanted the right words, and a flawless reiatsu chain erupted from his hand weaving around the puppet.

"Very good, Kasshoku-san. Do you also know any Hado?"

"Yes, Toyotomi-san". He turned again to his target, feeling slightly nervous. He was going to do a Byakurai – since anything above a Hado 4 would raise questions – and it also had to be far less powerful than normal, which meant absolutely _nothing_ had to disturb his concentration.

He stared at the target.

A calming breath.

Another.

He clenched his jaw.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Hado…"

He felt the reiatsu pulsing under his skin.

"… N. 4 …"

He paid maximum attention to compress all the necessary spiritual energy in his finger.

" …Byakur-"

– when a sudden _very_ familiar presence hit his senses…

_?Rukia?_

…and his eyes turned involuntarily to seek her out.

"-ai!"

–_CRASH!– _

His eyes shot back to his target just in time to see part of the wall next to the puppet crumble from the impact of the Kido. From the size of the hole – three feet at the very least – he gained that his nicely compressed lightning had decompressed into a river of spiritual energy!

He scowled furiously – _Damn it all to hell!_

His eyes strayed again in her direction, and this time, for a split second, startled angry amber met amused violet.

He quickly shifted his gaze to the ground and fought valiantly to keep it there.

_Shit! Did she recognize me?_

His thoughts were running a mile a minute, wondering if maybe she had already known he was here, or if she didn't, should he tell her later? And what was she doing here anyway?

He was so absorbed in his panicked speculations that he almost missed when the examiner spoke to him.

"Well, attempting a Byakurai without its incantation isn't very easy for a beginner," (3)

Ichigo scowled– good thing he was still staring at the floor. _What! I've trained with those two freaks five hours per night every night for two months and she calls me a 'beginner'? _

_Loser… _Hichigo snickered in his mind_._

_You again? – _but the hollow had wisely already made himself scarce_._

_Anyway, this is all the midget's fault! What's with appearing just like that? _He felt like pouting – but of course Kurosaki Ichigo _never_ pouted – even though rationally he knew this actually worked to his advantage in his charade.

"but all considering you did pretty well." Toyotomi-san continued "I also can see you have quite a lot of untapped reiatsu, which we deem very important for your evaluation.

"I even think you may skip the basic Kido class and start directly in the advanced one. What do you think, Kuchiki-fukutaicho?" she asked, turning to Rukia.

"I agree, Toyotomi-san." Rukia replied evenly, after taking the empty seat next to the woman "He may have to catch up a little, but I'm sure he will do well in our class."

Ichigo's eyes widened. _Wait, WHAT? Rukia said '__our'__ class, as in she's one of the __teachers__ in the Academy?...WHAT THE HELL!_

"Very well, then. If all of my colleagues agree…" Toyotomi-san looked at the other members of the commission and after they nodded, she went on with a solemn tone "…I'd like to welcome you, Kasshoku Kaito-san, in the Shino Academy."

"Thank you very much, it's a great honor for me." Ichigo mumbled softly, using a tone deeper than his usual, and bowed.

After that, still in slight shock and not daring to look up at the commission – that is at Rukia – he turned towards the door and, grabbing his bag on the way, nearly ran out of the examination room.

_There's no way that Geta Boshi didn't know about this! I'm _so_ gonna kill him!_

§I§

Rukia was hurrying towards the examination room.

Toyotomi-san and the other members of the committee had been informed that she would arrive later due to a meeting with her captain, but she still wanted to attend to as many exams as possible, since some of the candidates would become her students.

_My students…_ she shook her head, still baffled by the whole idea of _herself _teaching in the Academy. After all, less than three months ago she'd still been posing as a student in Ichigo's school – and she had to admit she would have liked to graduate with him.

_I bet the Orange Wonder is already studying for the entrance examination to some good university…or maybe he's still lounging on a beach somewhere with Isshin and the twins? _she thought dejectedly, then immediately she frowned. _Why am I thinking about him again? This is getting ridiculous!_

She shook her head and entered the examination room, noticing that a Kido exam was going on.

She caught Toyotomi-san's gaze and they nodded at each other silently in greeting, not wanting to interfere with the candidate's concentration, but the deafening 'CRASH' a moment later told Rukia it wouldn't have mattered.

_This guy is as bad as Ichigo, _she snickered inwardly, _well, almost as bad, because Ichi's Byakurai would've blown up in his hands!_

It looked as if the guy was feeling pretty embarrassed by the incident, as he kept his head down, not looking at the committee.

Then, for a split second, he looked up and their eyes met. Rukia blinked in surprise. _Do I know him from somewhere?_

Meanwhile she heard Toyotomi-san saying that the candidate had tried the Kido without its incantation. _Really? Hmm…Then it looks like he's way better than Ichigo._

With this in mind she had no problem agreeing with the older woman on accepting the guy in the Academy.

As he mumbled his thanks and hurried away, Rukia followed his retreating form with her eyes, unable to shake the sensation they had already met…_but where?_

XXX

_***_ ONE WEEK BEFORE***

Rukia slid open the door to Ukitake's office and bowed. "Good morning, Taichou, I've heard you needed to talk to me about a new assignment".

"Hello Rukia-chan," Ukitake smiled "yes, I do have an assignment for you, but please, sit down first and have some tea with me".

Rukia complied and waited for her captain to speak again.

"You see, I've heard from Toyotomi-san – I think she was one of your senseis in the Academy?"

Rukia nodded.

"Well, she's looking for an assistant teacher, and I immediately thought of you!"

Rukia blinked in surprise. "Me! I-I'm honored Taichou… but I'm not sure I'm qualified."

"Oh, don't say that Rukia-chan," the captain chastised her with a fatherly tone. "Everybody is aware how very good you've become at kido!"

Rukia couldn't help the tiny smile that escaped her at the praise. "Thank you Ukitake-Taichou, but still–"

"I know what you are going to say," Ukitake cut her off, albeit gently, "but the teaching wouldn't take up all of your time, and you don't need to worry about the paper-work either, since I'm sure Kiyone-chan and Sentarou-kun will be glad to help you out.

"What's more, there's been very few powerful hollows in the World of the Living in the past months, so, unless that situation changes, I think you're free to dedicate some time to teaching. What do you say?"

"I…You're right, Taichou…" but Rukia still didn't sound convinced.

They sipped their tea for a few minutes, Rukia's gaze lost in the warm, light green liquid.

_Everything Ukitake-__Taichou__ said makes sense, but why __me__ exactly?_ After all she knew for a fact that there were other people as good or better than her, who probably had more time on their hands.

"You know, Rukia-chan," Ukitake broke the silence "there's also another reason why I thought you might enjoy this assignment".

His Fuku-Taichou looked up questioningly.

"I know how hard it is to part from a person you care about," he said with an understanding tone "so doing something different may take your mind off said person".

Rukia looked at him clearly startled. "Thank you for your concern, Taichou, but I…I don't think I understand."

_Is he implying what I think he's implying? _she thought alarmed, as a slight blush started to creep up her face.

The captain gave her a knowing smile. "You don't need to pretend with me, Rukia-chan.

I've known you for many years and I can tell something's been bothering you since you came back to Seireitei."

At a loss for words, Rukia's gaze dropped again to her tea. She felt her cheeks heating up some more, embarrassed that people had noticed.

_So yeah, I miss that idiot – a little_, she added quickly in her mind, _and those wonderful Chappy movies! And manga! And… but I can't believe I was being that obvious! What would Nii-sama say?_

Jushiro knew he didn't need to press her any further, so he just waited.

"I…" Rukia finally looked back up, her expression calm once more. "I think I shall enjoy this new assignment. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Ukitake-Taichou".

"You're welcome Rukia-chan, and I'm sure you will!" he said with an enigmatic smile that Rukia just couldn't place. "You may go, now".

As soon as Rukia left, Jushiro took a little box that had been sitting by his side and put it on the table. When he opened the lid, a hell-butterfly flapped its blue-rimmed wings at him.

It was from a breed with a very special characteristic: it was untraceable.

XXX

Urahara yawned and scratched his head. Tonight Ichigo was once again trying his hardest to destroy his basement, so he'd decided to leave him with Tessai and go back up to his shop to relax.

He stretched the upper part of his body on the table and closed his eyes, but a moment later he felt something tickling his right hand. He opened one eye and found a black and blue butterfly.

He listened to its message, then smirked.

_Looks_ _like everything's going as planned_!

XXX TBC XXX

A/N

Well? What do you think of Rukia as Ichi's teacher?

And all of you who thought Ichi would fail utterly the Kido exam, you should have had more faith in him **chuckles**, after all the guy had 2 months! I can see him scowling at you from here... Ichi:"Hey people, I actually did learn something, you know?"

(1) "_Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon_". If you haven't seen it yet, think of it as a VERY powerful "Hado 33: Sokatsui".

(2) I'm making these Kido mechanics up to suit this story, though I I hope they aren't too much against Canon. Let me know, please!

(3) I suppose every Kido has its incantation, even though we don't know all of them.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi! This time it took my just 2 weeks to update, and I'm aiming to be even quicker with the next one!

Much love to my beta, DeviantHollow23, who was a great help with this chapter!

To Naginator: I hope you'll be happy with the length of this chapter, it's almost 3900 word without the Author's Note at the end!

CHAPTER 8

Ichigo was walking down one of the countless hallways of the Academy's dormitory. The place was really crowded with freshmen running around excitedly but, thanks to his perma-frown, most of them were careful to give him a wide berth – just like in high-school, really.

He'd left Hideki a few rooms back, agreeing they would meet up again in a few minutes, and was now looking for his own new room.

He finally stopped in front of one door identical to all the others and used the key he'd been given to enter, noticing immediately that his new room-mate hadn't been by yet.

After he'd closed the door, he dropped his long bag on one of the two beds and immediately went to open it.

His right hand closed automatically around Zangetsu's red hilt that peeked among the clothes, seeking the familiar sensation that he'd been missing for the past three days.

When in spirit form, he'd always carried Zangetsu on his person, so he'd never noticed how uncomfortable it felt doing otherwise. He supposed it made sense, seeing as how a Zanpaktou was an extension of one's soul, but if he was to follow his and Urahara's plan he wouldn't be able to afford doing so for some more time.

He looked at his katana thoughtfully, then his eyes swept the room, a frown appearing and deepening the more he studied the Spartan style furnishing: two beds, two desks with chairs, two small cupboards, one window.

_Where the hell am I going to hide it? _

Keeping it in the bag was out of the question – the world was too full of nosy people – the cupboard was too obvious so, maybe the floor?

He got on his knees and started tapping on the panels of the wooden floor around and under both beds, but he couldn't hear the presence of any empty cavity.

He stood back up, his eyes darting around the room worriedly. _Not good, not good at all. Any advice Old Man? _

_Not in this case Ichigo, I'm sorry, _the Zanpaktou spirit answered.

_Why don't you shove it up your ass? _Hichigo sneered.

Ichigo reddened and his nostrils flared._ I'll shove it down your throat if you don't stop spouting bullshit!_ - seriously, were all inner hollows this crude or was it just his luck to have one like that?

He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the bastard that was now cackling like a madman in the background. He seriously didn't have time to waste.

His eyes landed back on the bed. He stared at it for a few seconds, the wheels in his head turning. _There's always the mattress…_

He crouched down to check the seams, then smirked. As he'd thought, it was of the traditional kind, resembling a sack filled with wool, whose seams could be opened quite easily…

… but the moment he stood up to get his sword, the door burst open.

_Damn_.

His head whipped towards the intruder, finding a panting Hideki on the doorstep.

"What's taking you so long Kaito? They're already passing out the academy uniforms! Come on!" he said gesturing wildly for his friend to follow.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. W_hen he gets excited he's as bad as his little brother_. "Go on, I'll catch up with you in a few minutes".

"But you can't be late for this! There won't be any uniforms of your size left!" and with that Hideki grabbed Ichigo's sleeve pulling him towards the door.

"Hey!" Ichigo protested, but the boy's strength caught him so off guard that he found himself in the hallway before he had any more time to object. He barely shot a last worried glance to his half-opened bag before Hideki shut the door.

"Hurry!" Hideki yelled again and they were off.

_Let's hope my room-mate is also busy getting his uniform, _Ichigo thought with a sigh_._

XXX

Among the many people milling in the hallways, there was one boy that was getting more attention than the others. To be exact, it was unwanted attention in the form of snickers and stupid jokes whispered to the nearest person, but whenever somebody dared to say something directly to the boy's face, he or she got a cutting remark or a threatening glare in return.

"People get more stupid every year" he muttered as he raked his hand through his wavy, light purple hair, which was the very reason for his lifelong teasing.

Many in his family had purple hair, it was just his luck he'd been born with such a girly shade of said color, made even more eye-catching by his tanned complexion.

He finally stopped in front of his new room and got inside, taking in the place where he would be staying for the next ten months. _Not exactly my style_, he grimaced, thinking of the posh interiors of his own house.

His eyes landed on the half-opened bag sitting on one of the two beds. _Looks like my room-mate has already been here._

He dropped his stuff on the other bed, then turned again to look at Ichigo's bag_._

_I wonder what kind of guy he is… but they say you can learn a lot about a person just__ by looking at their possessions, _he smirked and approached the object of his ponderings – so yes, 'curiosity' was another outstanding characteristic of his family, so you could argue his snoopiness wasn't really his fault.

The moment he peeked inside the aforementioned bag, his eyes widened in shock. _Is _that_ what I think it is?_

His hand drew near the hilt, skimming the air above, but he was very careful not to touch it – he'd been told enough times that Zanpakuto spirits didn't like random people touching their physical form.

The little amount of reiatsu that prickled his palm like electricity told him he was right, _but what shinigami in his right mind leaves his Zanpakuto lying around just like that? And isn't my room-mate supposed to be a _freshman,_ like me? _He'd never heard of somebody entering the Academy already possessing a Zanpakuto.

What's more, he'd been around enough Zanpakutos to suspect, from the quality of its reiatsu, that the owner of this one could already release its shikai!

He kept staring at the katana in complete puzzlement, his thoughts chasing each other trying to find an explanation for his discovery. One thing though was certain: his room-mate already seemed like quite the interesting person.

He was so engrossed in his ponderings, that he almost missed the door-handle opening.

With a speed and agility verging on shunpo, he stepped away and towards his own bed, so when the door finally opened, he looked to be going calmly through his own clothes.

"Hey! You my new room-mate?" the new-comer asked.

"Yep!" the purple-haired boy looked up. _So that's him, huh? Looks pretty normal… _but then he caught the other's apprehensive glance at the bag. _So that Zanpakuto _is_ his!_

"I'm Kasshoku Kaito, nice to meet you." Ichigo bowed slightly.

"Shihouin Takeshi, nice to meet you too".

"_Shihouin?_" Ichigo blurted out, forgetting he wasn't supposed to know that surname.

"Famous family, I know," Takeshi shrugged, "but don't mind that, just call me Takeshi".

That got an appreciative smirk from Ichigo. _Good to know that not all nobles are conceited asses_. "Alright, you can just call me Kaito then."

"So, I've heard some of your family were in the Gotei 13?" Ichigo continued, trying to understand how this guy was related to Yoruichi, because this was really too much of a coincidence.

"Why yes, some are seated officers, and one of my aunts was the Captain of the 2nd Division," he replied with no small deal of pride, "but I didn't know my family was so well known even in Rukongai, 'cause you're from there right?"

_So Yoruichi is his aunt? Hmm… _"From the 78th, Inuzuri." Ichigo replied, carefully avoiding to answer Takeshi's other question. Meanwhile he walked up to his bed, dropping his new uniforms.

"Ouch, tough place." the young Shihouin winced.

"Yeah, but also a good training ground with all those thugs." Ichigo smirked then, with his back half-turned, he casually knotted the strings of his bag and pushed it under the bed.

_As_ _soon as I'm alone, I have to at least put that anti-snoopers Kido on the strings._

None of Ichigo's actions escaped his room-mate as he replied, "I bet, two of the current Fuku-taichos are from there, and I've heard one is gonna be teaching a class this year."

"Seriously?" Ichigo feigned surprise. "By the way, what classes are you in?"

"In all the advanced ones, of course." the young Shihouin replied in a cocky tone.

O_k, so he's not that modest, but still not anywhere near Byakuya's level._ "Then we'll have all classes together".

"So that training on thugs actually worked?" Takeshi punned.

Ichigo's reply was a sly smile. A moment later he glanced at the watch on the wall. "Hey, isn't the first class starting in fifteen minutes?"

XXX

The 1st year Advanced Hakuda students gathered in a one of the many courtyards of the Academy. A giddy buzz could be heard as they waited for their teacher to show up.

Ichigo stood a little off from the crowd leaning against one of the pillars and not really feeling the excitement. He rather amused himself observing the other freshmen and catching the tid-bits of information Takeshi provided him about some of the students.

The young Shihouin seemed to know everybody and their uncle – as long as they came from the Seireitei noble houses or the first districts of Rukongai.

"… oh, and that girl with pigtails over there is, Hata Unoka." Takeshi waved at said girl who replied with a shy smile. "Her older brother would be attending the last year, if only he hadn't disappeared six months ago."

Ichigo's attention immediately sharpened. "Disappeared?"

"Yeah, it was during a training mission in the outskirts of Rukongai. The Hollows were stronger than expected, so several shinigami students were injured. Nobody actually saw what happened to Kotohito, her brother, but he's supposed to have been eaten by a Hollow," then with a sad tone he added, "it's a pity, really, 'cause he was one of the Academy's best students."

Ichigo gave a non-committal grunt and kept observing the crowd, but in truth the wheels in his head were turning. _Could this be one of the vanished students Geta-Boshi mentioned?_

He turned to his room-mate to ask if he knew of anymore students with a similar fate, but oddly found him staring down somebody in the crowd. He followed the direction of Takeshi's gaze and found a girl that was sending his companion an equally evil glare.

He blinked once, twice, _is_ _that Rangiku's twin, or something?_ but on a closer inspection, Ichigo noticed it were just her –ahem– 'assets' and the blond flowing hair that gave that impression. The arrogant smirk on her face was nothing like Matsumoto.

"Who's that?"

Takeshi's lip curled in distaste "That's Oda Nanami from the Oda Noble House, better known as, 'The Bitch'".

Ichigo's eyebrow raised quizzically, which prompted Takeshi to continue.

"She thinks of herself as Kami's gift to shinigami, but then she has that little posse of fawning idiots who follow her everywhere, thus supporting her beliefs – how pathetic." he snorted.

Indeed, there were several females and mostly males hanging around this Nanami character and she seemed to have them all wrapped around her little finger, sending charming smiles left and right.

"Unfortunately for her," now Takeshi was on a roll "I've known her since we were little kids and can see through her fake sweet demeanor."

Ichigo gave another non-committal grunt, but this time because he really didn't care about some 'evil cheerleader from Hell', as his friend made her out to be.

"What's more–" but thankfully Takeshi's rant was cut off by the arrival of the teacher.

The crowd fell silent as a tall balding man with a drooping black moustache entered the courtyard.

"Good morning, freshmen!" the man's voice boomed, "My name is Kanin Yasuji, and I'll be teaching this year's advanced Hakuda class…"

As the teacher went on with his welcoming speech, Takeshi helpfully provided some info even on this guy, mainly that he had been the 2nd division's 3rd seat under Yoruichi.

After that Ichigo tuned out both Kanin-sensei and his chatty friend, concentrating instead on analyzing the reiatsu of his fellow students, as he needed to know which ones would be the most likely to be offered entrance to the Four Sakura Leaves.

There were at least seventy freshmen present, and about ten of them already had the spiritual pressure of a seated officer. Ichigo focused on those long and hard, hoping to memorize their reiatsu for future use.

"…Kasshoku Kaito?" the voice of the sensei and a nudge from Takeshi shook him out of his thoughts.

"Since you obtained the highest score in the entrance exam, I'd like you to show us what you can do." the sensei spoke, crossing his arms.

The crowd parted to let Ichigo walk up to the teacher.

As Ichigo and Kanin-sensei saluted each other and took a fighting stance, all the other students, even those most eager to see the spar, retreated to the back of the courtyard.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he studied his adversary. He was really itching for a good fight.

_Remember not to overdo it, Ichigo_, he heard Zangetsu's sage voice.

_Yeah, yeah, no need to worry, _he grumbled. This guy would be more fun than any student, anyway.

"So what are you waiting for, Kasshoku-san? Do I intimidate you?" The teacher teased.

Instead of replying, Ichigo launched his first attack which consisted of a combination of direct high and low punches. Kanin seemed to be parrying most of them without much problems – only two or three got through – but actually he was caught a little off guard by their speed and accuracy, so much so that it took him a few seconds to counterattack.

Kanin decided to kick things up a notch with a quick series of high kicks that were to upset's Ichigo's balance and compel him to step back, but to the older shinigami's dismay, the freshman, instead of retreating, deflected all his kicks with nonchalance.

_His reflexes are incredibly sharp. Let's see if he manages as well if I speed things up._

After another brief exchange, Kanin's left hand struck like a snake and grabbed Ichigo's retreating right wrist. He planned to use the freshman's momentum to increase the force of the following knee-kick to his abdomen, but suddenly the adversary's body wasn't were it should be.

Reading the sensei's intentions Ichigo had moved his center on his right leg, and using Kanin's own hold on his wrist not to lose his balance, he leaned his torso forward as his left leg lashed up and backwards in a vicious kick to the older shinigami's head.

Kanin released his hold on Ichigo's wrist and hit the ground painfully, while among the students awed murmurs could be heard.

A few seconds later the teacher was up with a challenging smirk on his face and a trickle of blood running out of his mouth. _This kid has a real talent, but let's make the fight a little bit faster. _

Kanin started to insert flash steps during his attacks, which put Ichigo in a difficult position, as he didn't know whether he should do the same, thus exposing himself to questions, or throw the fight. From his point of view, up until now the match couldn't be considered more than a mild warm-up – he wasn't even slightly winded yet – so he certainly didn't want to end things there.

His brief musings cost him a reiatsu-charged punch to the nose that made him fly backwards at least ten feet, and that really pissed him off – he absolutely hated getting hit there! – so the choice was suddenly very easy.

Ignoring both Zangetsu's grumbling and Hichigo's cheering, he got back on his feet and shunpoed behind Kanin, catching him totally by surprise. He punched the older shinigami to the kidneys, and the moment his adversary turned, he kneed him in the solar plexus so fast that the teacher barely saw his leg moving – of course adding a liberal amount of reiatsu to this hit in return for the punch to his nose.

But Kanin Yasuji was a tough guy who didn't let a 'little pain' or a 'passing lack of breath' get in the way of exploiting Ichigo's momentary open stance.

Ignoring the acute throbbing in his stomach, he immediately flexed his knees to regain his balance, and at the same time he got a firm hold of the freshman's retreating leg encircling it below the knee with his left arm. With the right he grabbed the front of Ichigo's kimono, he raised him a little off the ground then slammed him back down to earth using the full weight of both their bodies, thus leaving his adversary breathless for a few seconds.

"Well, I think that's enough for now," the teacher grinned under his thick moustache as he got up, "and I really can see why you got the highest score in the examination!

And you even used two flash steps!" he added with an appreciative tone, as Ichigo too rose back up to his feet and dusted his uniform off.

"Um…" Ichigo scratched the back of his head, wracking his brain to find an explanation for the implied question. "I didn't know it was shunpo… I – um – just felt I needed to be faster and it came naturally." he finished lamely.

"A natural talent! Very good, Kasshoku-san, very good indeed!" Kanin patted Ichigo's shoulder. "Now let's move on with our lesson." He turned to the rest of the students "Form pairs with one of your fellow students and start sparring. I want to see what you are capable of!"

The students that had looked as if in a trance up until a moment prior, finally started moving following the sensei's instructions, but most of them still kept throwing glances, some full of respect and awe, some envious, at the freshman who had stood up to their teacher.

Any other person would have felt self-conscious, but Ichigo being Ichigo barely noticed them.

"Hey Kaito," Takeshi appeared by Ichigo's side "let's spar together."

"Sure." Ichigo replied with a shrug – not that many other students felt like challenging him at the moment, but the young Shihouin had had the second highest score in both Hakuda and Hoho at the exam, so he wanted to see for himself how much he needed to catch up.

The rest of the class ran smoothly, though from Ichigo's point of view it was quite boring.

Takeshi was good, probably the best among the freshmen, and Ichigo could see how one day he could become a master in Hoho and Hakuda like his aunt, but now his reiatsu wasn't developed yet, so he barely felt his room-mate's punches and the whole spar was painfully slow.

The two-hour class ended with Kanin-sensei explaining how from the next lesson they would be focusing on the singular aspects of the various fighting techniques, which made Ichigo groan inwardly. _I'm_ _gonna die from boredom!_

_But you will have the possibility to observe the fighting styles of your class-mates _Zangetsu suggested, _it may turn out_ _useful in the future._

_I suppose_, Ichigo sulked.

_And don't forget you have a mission, you need to get invited in that club, and today's class was a perfect start in that direction,_ his sword spirit pointed out.

_Right_, he pressed his lips together, _I have a mission_.

XXX

The following class was the one Ichigo dreaded the most: Kido – one hour theory, one hour practice.

If you think it was because he was worried about the explosive quality of his spells, that wasn't a real problem anymore. No, it was because of _her_, the midget that had _no business_ teaching at the Academy.

Ichigo would have paid to know what possessed her to do so, but unfortunately that would have to wait.

Of course, there was always the possibility of revealing himself to her and explaining everything, but he didn't want to chance the 12th Division keeping an eye on her, which would make her a target – something he absolutely wanted to avoid.

So now her presence was just a total, nerve-wracking nuisance, since if anybody were to recognize him, he knew that, without a doubt, it'd be her – but it should be noted that there wasn't anything new to her being a royal pain in his ass.

At this point, his chosen course of action was the following:

1. Avoid proximity

2. Avoid eye-contact

3. Avoid dialogue.

In other words: Avoid her – period.

…which is why the moment he entered the class-room with the other students he hurried to the last row of seats farthest from the teacher's desk.

Takeshi gave him a weird look but followed at a slower pace and sat beside him.

Then, from the moment Toyotomi-sensei and Rukia entered, he kept his nose buried in his text-book, however he couldn't help sneaking a glance at the midget from time to time.

He had to admit he was mildly surprised by her. At first he noticed she was a little nervous, though she covered it skillfully with her Kuchiki façade, but as she went on with her explanation he saw her self-confidence increasing.

_Who'd have thought? She's actually good at this teaching gig_, he thought as his lips stretched in a tiny but genuine smile, _and she even refrained from using any_ _Chappy-themed teaching aides…but we're still at the beginning. Knowing her, I wouldn't give it long before she starts itching to whip out her sketch pad and start showing some!__H_e snickered silently imagining the other students' reaction, which got him a raised eyebrow from his room-mate.

Then the time came for the real challenge: practice.

Ichigo was very aware of what had happened the last time the midget had popped up while he was casting a spell and wanted to avoid a repeat. He just needed to follow the aforementioned Three Golden Rules.

But nope. It wasn't to be that easy.

First, when the students got divided in two groups, Rukia was assigned to his.

Second, as they got in a line to practice their Kido on a target, she kept walking up and down behind them, giving suggestions to the students, and thus wrecking his concentration, since he was more focused on her than on what he was doing – that's how his practice dummy ended up slamming against the farthest wall in the courtyard from a simple 'Hado N.1: Sho' – insert freaked glances from his companions.

But that wouldn't have been so bad, if a girl on his right wasn't having so many troubles, to cause Rukia to be there, like, _every five freaking__ seconds_, and every time the midget came to stand beside him, Ichigo felt the hair on his nape stand up and the reiatsu in his hand waver.

And in the end, of course, she _noticed_.

_Shit_.

She turned to him. "Kasshoku-san, right?"

XXX TBC XXX

OMG, is this a _cliff-hanger_?

Yes, it is! **hides from screaming readers**

NEXT CHAPTER: IchiRuki goodness and some more Academy life… and maybe something more ^_^

.

Now, the longest **Author's Note** in history…

I'd like to thank again all my reviewers, and also let you know how important your imput is!

You see, I have a general plot in mind for this story, but I make up the singular scenes as I go, and your reviews have a really important role in this: for example, in the previous chapter originally I hadn't planned for Rukia to show up during Ichi's Kido exam, but then I got some reviews suggesting just that! So I got to thinking, and in the end I found the perfect solution! – at least I like to think so :-P.

All this to let you know, feel free to make suggestions or to tell me what you'd like to read! It feeds my Muse! ^_^

Questions:

- so, what do you think of my original characters? I know that Takeshi hogged the scene a bit, but I think you noticed that in the end it is mostly about Ichigo, anyway ^_- . I'm planning to use my OCs to give a 3rd person POV on Ichigo/Rukia/the plot, but if you don't like some of them, let me know! As I told you, I still can decide to minimize their presence.

- what about the fight with Kanin-sensei? It wasn't very flashy, since it was mostly pure Hakuda (hand-to-hand combat), but I think I got a little carried away with that! On the other hand, this is probably gonna be the only fight of that kind in this story.

If you care about the actual techniques used, it was a mix of Karate (the direct high and low punches), Muay Thai (the knee to the gut), Kung-fu (Ichigo's backward high kick – it's a really cool move I saw in several movies that requires a great deal of agility) and Ju-jutsu (Kanin's final slam-down – I made an adaptation of an actual quite nasty Ju-jutsu technique - and I would know since I'm a brown belt in said Martial Art ^_-). Some moves, of course, are common to several Martial Arts.

Moving on.

I don't know how the Academy's dorms look, I suppose they would have Japanese sliding doors everywhere and rooms for more than two people, but since in the manga/anime they weren't shown (at least I hope so), I had plot-related reasons to make them more western style.

A last curiosity: when choosing the surnames of my characters, I use those of more or less famous people in Japanese history. For example, has anybody ever heard of Oda Nobunaga? I think he's even a character in some videogame!^_-


	9. Chapter 9

OMG I got 27 reviews for the last chap! Thank you SO SO much!

But now I'm also feeling bad that I made you wait 3 weeks again – I apologize especially to those whom I told I'd update within 2 weeks. I'm the first one to get annoyed when Ichigo and Rukia are jumping around in my head but I can't find those few hours required to sit down and write their story! At least this chap is REALLY long, I think the longest yet!

Anyway, since I'm going away for two weeks next Saturday, I'll do my best to post a shorter chap within next Friday.

As always, DeviantHollow 23 beta-ed the chap!

.

§I§

Change of POV

§I§

_/ / /_

_flashback_

_/ / / _

.

PREVIOUSLY…

_But that wouldn'__t__ have been so bad, if a girl on his right wasn't having so much troubles, to cause Rukia to be there, like, _every five freakingseconds_, and every time the midget came to stand beside him, Ichigo felt the hair on his nape stand up and the reiatsu in his hand waver. _

_And in the end, of course, she _noticed_._

Shit_._

_She turned to him. "Kass__hoku-san, right?" _

CHAPTER 9

_How the hell does she _already_ remember my name?_ "Yes, Kuchiki-sensei," he mumbled, staring at his feet – as per Golden Rule N.2.

"You shouldn't be so tense when casting a Kido," Rukia explained with a warm smile, hoping to ease her student's nerves, "you see, it upsets the flow of your spiritual energy."

_Really now? I hadn't noticed_, he felt the sarcastic reply pushing out of his mouth, but bit his tongue. "Thank you for the suggestion, Kuchiki-sensei," he mumbled instead.

Rukia took a step back, stopping two feet behind Ichigo's right shoulder, while he raised his hand in preparation for a 'Hado N.2: Soushou'.(1)

He paused for a couple seconds, waiting for her to go away, but she didn't seem to want to move.

He started having this, not so subtle, urge to growl. _What now? Don't tell me she even wants to check if I'm doing it better!_

But did he have a say in the matter? Nope. So, even though he was so tense he was getting cramps in his arm, he bravely started murmuring the incantation and pumping reiatsu towards his twitching fingers.

§I§

Rukia stood behind her student, observing his Kido casting with a frown. He was still too nervous and she could already tell his Hado wasn't going to end well, but she didn't dare stop him in the middle of his incantation to avoid any dangerous explosions.

However the other half of her mind was stuck analyzing a much more puzzling fact.

She knew him.

Before it had been just a feeling, but now, standing this close to him, she was sure.

_Perhaps I met him in Rukongai? It's possible, after all his file says he's from Inuzuri like me, but then he's been dead for __just__ about fifteen years…hmm…_

Her musings were cut short by the expected crash and an incensed female student yelling at Kasshoku for destroying her target with the second blow of the spell.(1)

Rukia felt like rolling her eyes, but since she was supposed to be the teacher here… "Now now, there's no need to get so upset, Okabe-san, you can get another dummy inside. Now Kasshoku-san –," she turned back to the culprit, who suddenly stopped glaring at his classmate and dropped his eyes to his feet.

_What is it with him? Is he that shy?_

Shaking her head, Rukia reached out to grab his hand in order to show him the proper finger movements to avoid any more such disasters, but the moment her fingers brushed his skin…

…an overwhelming sense of familiarity swept over her.

She inhaled sharply.

_His reiatsu…_

A split second later the connection was broken as he crouched down at the speed of light yelling about an ant and checking his foot.

She blinked, looking down. _An_ a_nt? What ant?_

§I§

Tessai had warned him, hadn't he?

_/__ / /_

"_This concealing Bakudo is so hard to detect because, to maintain itsel__f, it slowly feeds off your own reiatsu, so even the most skilled Kido practitioner __will__ be hard pressed to find anything strange when analyzing your spiritual pressure. _

"_On the downside, this also means that the energy flowing under your skin isn't aff__ected by the Bakudo, so somebody very well attuned to your reiatsu may __perceive__ its real quality __if they touch you.__"_

_/__ / /_

So, why was it that he _still_ found himself crouched at Rukia's feet, rubbing his big toe and bitching about the bite of a non-existent ant among the snickers of his classmates?

– _Damn you Rukia! – _

She always managed to make him look like a fool, even without trying! And all this only because he wanted to keep her out of that mess for as long as possible!

And of course Mr. Inner Hollow couldn't stop himself from opening his big fat mouth to mock him for his slip up - _Oi King, __watch__ out! I think I've just seen a ladybug flying by! – _followed by a burst of raucous laughter, to which Ichigo's response was a threatening '_You and me are gonna have a very long 'chat' this weekend'._

At this point the following thought was due: Was it possible for a spirit to get a coronary?

XXX

Ichigo sat in the Academy's refectory frowning into his Miso soup, not paying attention to either Hideki or Takeshi who where also sitting at his table and chatting about the upcoming Zanjutsu lesson.

Sure, he'd worked out some of his frustrations during the weekend in the cave under the Soukyoku Hill (2) against his loud mouthed Hollow, but the fact remained that Rukia's Sherlock routine was getting annoying to the point where he was starting to consider whether he should just murder her and be done with it.

She was worse than a dog on a hot trail. She'd sniffed something odd about him that first day, and had been keeping an eye on him ever since – which surely didn't help keeping his stress-levels in check.

Just today, after the end of the Kido lesson she'd ambushed him with questions about his life in Inuzuri, and he'd barely managed to stutter a semi-coherent reply before running away as if Kenpachi was chasing after him.

He sighed_. Running in front of the midget, how undignified…_

On the other hand, he wouldn't have expected anything less of her – after all, she was as much of a persistent bitch as he was stubborn. Plus there was a part of him – a part that was getting harder and harder to ignore – that would've been _really_ disappointed if she hadn't noticed anything strange about 'Kasshoku Kaito'.

"Hey Kaito, why so moody today?" Hideki's voice broke into his train of thoughts. "You haven't spoken a word since the beginning of lunch."

"Ah, unrequited love would do that to you," Takeshi explained with an expert tone, "even a tough guy like our Kaito here isn't immune to such things," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, patting Ichigo's shoulder.

Ichigo glanced at his room-mate with a look that clearly said, 'are you nuts?'

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Aw, come on," Takeshi grinned, "to me it's clear as day that you have the hots for Kuchiki-sensei!"

"WHAAT?" Ichigo screeched feeling his whole face getting hot – he didn't know himself, if it was from anger or embarrassment.

"Isn't she one of your Kido teachers?" Hideki asked, after sipping some more of his own soup.

"Yep," Takeshi nodded, "but she's more than that! She's also 13th Division's fukutaicho and a princess of the Kuchiki Noble House, not to mention she looks like one of those porcelain dolls with big violet eyes! Isn't that right Kaito?" He finished, peering at Ichigo to see his reaction.

"I wouldn't know," Ichigo growled. Hearing a guy talking about Rukia like that just rubbed him the wrong way.

The young Shihouin grinned knowingly. "You should see him, Hideki. He spends all the time looking at Kuchiki-sensei from the corner of his eye, but every time she happens to look at him or comes too close, he turns into a stuttering fool, averting his eyes and blowing up all his Kido!" He snickered.

Ichigo's face turned downright stormy - _Damn that observant Takeshi! _– but it wasn't like he could explain the real reasons behind his behavior, so denial was the way to go.

"There's clearly something toxic in your soup, because you're seeing things," he said icily.

"Don't be so shy," the young Shihouin continued, clearly enjoying himself immensely, "you can talk freely here, you're among friends!"

"Yes," Hideki added his two cents, "I too had a crush on a girl once, she had these beautif–," but Ichigo's murderous glare shut him up immediately, while Takeshi kept on snickering.

Thank god, in that moment three older students approached their table, creating a much needed distraction. They stopped a couple feet from them, crossing their arms, probably under the impression that this way they looked more intimidating.

"Are you Kasshoku, Kaito?" the bigger and badder looking one of the three addressed Ichigo with a cocky grin.

Ichigo looked at the three with practiced disinterest, then nodded shortly. "Who wants to know?"

"I'm Tendo, Daijiro," the big one replied puffing out his chest, clearly expecting Ichigo to recognize his name. When there was no reaction, his grin turned into a frown, but he went on in the same arrogant way. "I've heard you fancy yourself to be the new Academy prodigy, especially in Hoho and Hakuda."

"Nah, not really, I just punch hard and can run really fast," Ichigo smirked.

Daijiro's eyes narrowed dangerously at Ichigo's mocking. "Care to defend that statement on Sunday afternoon at 4 in the Zanjutsu training area?"

"Sure," Ichigo shrugged with nonchalance.

Daijiro just nodded, then turned, thus signaling his two companions it was time to go.

When they were out of ear-shot, Takeshi turned to Ichigo with a half worried half curious face. "Do you have any idea whose challenge you've just accepted?"

"Um,…no?" Ichigo replied airily, but he'd actually sensed that the guy's reiatsu was high, probably around that of a fifth seat – which of course constituted barely a blip on his radar.

"That big guy is in the 4th year. He's one of the Academy's best students and he's also rumored to be a member of the Four Sakura Leaves," Takeshi informed him, waiting to see his reaction to the mess he'd just gotten himself into.

"_Really_ now?" Ichigo's lips stretched in a feral smirk, eerily similar to that of his Hollow counterpart. _Looks like I've just found my entrance ticket to that Club!_

Takeshi and Hideki looked at each other in bewilderment. Was their friend stupid or simply overconfident?

"This is serious, Kaito," Hideki leaned towards Ichigo, feeling it was his turn to try to explain the situation. "Takeshi told me how good you are at Hoho and Hakuda, but this won't be a specialty fight.

"Your Kido may be good enough, but I've seen for myself you're still just average in Zanjutsu (3), while Tendo-san already possesses his shikai!" Then he added with a frown, "And I've heard he's not the type to hold back just because his adversary is inferior".

Ichigo waved his hand in dismissal. "Both of you worry too much," and picked up his still untouched soup, his mood somehow lightened by this new development.

Both Hideki and Takeshi stared at him for a second longer then exchanged another glance, wondering what the hell their friend had in mind.

XXX

It was Sunday afternoon and the weather was particularly hot for it being the beginning of autumn. That's also why the 13th Division's training area was deserted, except for a lone shinigami that kept thrusting and swinging her katana in intricate patterns at an imagined adversary, while jumping and twisting in the air as if she was avoiding its counterattacks.

Droplets of sweat rolled slowly down her forehead, her hair was plastered to her cheeks the same way her shihakushou clung to her overheated body, but Rukia ignored her discomfort, concentrating only on her training.

She had a goal in mind, something that up to a year ago had seemed a fantasy, but was now slowly becoming a possibility :

Bankai.

The first time that thought had crossed her mind, she had scoffed at herself, but then she had made the mistake – a mistake that in hindsight was nothing but – to mention this to her best friend who, in his very personal way, made her understand she really could do this.

_/ __/ /_

_Rukia __was lying__ on Ichigo's bed staring at the ceiling, her manga forgotten by her side, as Urahara's words __kept running __on repeat through her mind._

_Of course she'd noticed the increase in her power in the last year and a half – it's hard to mis__s when your attack doubles in size in a matter of months when it's stayed the same for over thirty years – but she'd thought it was just the consequence of the hard times they'd all gone through. After all__,__ Ichigo's powers too had developed at a scary rate, but he was hardly the best __point of comparison__. _

_But then, some days ago, Urahara had explained to her it was all tied to the __Hogyoku. __For as long as it had stayed inside her soul, a great part of her reiatsu was needed to keep it hidden and in turn to protect herself from its influence, but after it came out, and she had had the time to heal, her reiatsu could finally develop properly._

'Think of it as a growth spurt', he says, but then he's not able to tell me how long this 'growth spurt' is gonna last_, she thought __crinkling__ her nose in irritation and turned on her side, _could it be enough to…to… _she swallowed. No, she was getting ahead of herself._

Say it Rukia, believe in yourself and say it,_ Sode No Shirayuki's gentle voice resounded in her mind._

Shirayuki?_ Rukia smiled. Lately she'd been hearing more and more from her Zanpakuto._

I know how much your heart desires to be strong enough to protect your friends, to protect the ones you care for the same way _he_ protects you,_ the ice-spirit continued._

_Rukia's cheeks colored slightly, as she tried to ignore the last part of Shirayuki's sentence and instead focused on the first. _Yes, I want to be able to have the strength to protect my friends, I don't want them to be injured trying to save me… but _Bankai_?_ She said this last part with __uncertainty__ coating her words._

Ah Rukia_ – a hint of exasperation __showed in__ Shirayuki's voice, but any following words would have had to wait because in that moment Ichigo entered the room. _

_He stopped in front of the bed, with his arms folded, observing Rukia with a frown for a couple seconds, then spoke with a firm voice. "Get off my bed__."_

_As an answer Rukia burrowed her face even deeper into his pillow, secretly __enjoying __his unique scent that lingered on the sheets. _

_Ichigo scowled. "How many times have I told you not to lie on my bed?" In truth, he didn't mind all that much, but seeing as she did that just to annoy him, it was only logical to respond, right?_

"_Not like you need it yet, unless you need to take a nap after lunch like an old lady__,__" came the smartass remark muffled by his pillow._

_Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he took a step closer. "Move it__,__" he ordered._

_A defiant violet eye peered up at him, only to close a moment later in dismissal of his threatening voice._

_Ichigo's right eye twitched in annoyance. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her by force, deftly avoiding her kick to __his__ gut, but he didn't make it in time to avoid the second __kick __that caught his hip causing him to fall at the foot of the bed, narrowly avoiding her other slightly bent leg._

_He cursed, but didn't grimace in pain, no__t__ wanting to give her the satisfaction. As he raised his head back up, ready to yell at her, his eyes caught a flash of pink under her dark blue dress. _Is she wearing pink panties? _the thought flew unbidden through his mind._

_He shook his head sharply, trying to clear the image from his mind, then finally raised himself enough to look her in the face, his own flushed in anger – yeah, right – "You bitc-" but stopped in his tracks when he noticed that her gaze was lost on something outside the window._

_He frowned. Come to think of it, she'd been spacing out a lot in the past few days. _

"_What's wrong Rukia?" Ichigo asked while finally settling on his bed with his legs crossed._

_She looked back at him and blinked. "Huh? Nothing. Nothing's wrong__."_

"_Bullshit," he replied __in a matter-of-fact voice, __"something's been bugging you and I want to know what it is__."_

_She rolled her eyes. "__It's __none of your business__."_

"_The hell it isn't__,__" Ichigo growled__,__ "If a hollow's mouth starts to water for a midget-sized snack, and said midget is admiring the clouds instead of paying attention, it's _me_ who's gonna have to go and save her ass__,__" he said logically._

"_I'll have you know__,__ I've grown two inches in the last year!" Rukia yelled at him._

"_And that changes your midget status how?" Ichigo shot back._

"_And I can take care of myself, thank yo__u__ very much!" __S__he finished her mini-rant getting in his face._

_He opened his mouth for another smartass remark but thought better of it. Something told him she was just trying to avoid the real conversation, but he wanted answers. Time to switch tactics._

"_I know you can," Ichigo replied with a calm voice__,__ "but I never said I minded looking after you, did I?" __H__e finished with a little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. _

_Rukia had already opened her mouth __to__ retort but Ichigo's sudden __change__caught her totally off-guard. And those _words_? They did something strange to her stomach. She felt an unexpected warmth creeping up her neck and had to look to the side for a moment to avoid his eyes. They were __too close, too intense._

"_So?" __T__he uncharacteristic gentleness in his voice surprised her even more, so much so that she found the words __flowing out of her mouth __before she'd even given them a conscious __command__. _

"_Some days ago Urahara made a comment on the size of my White Moon, so we sorta ended up talking about my powers__,__" she started, still looking out of the window. _

"_I had to literally 'extract' it out __of__ him, but it seems that the Hogyoku's presence inside of my soul was responsible for the slow growth of my spiritual pressure. So now that it's out, my reiatsu is developing at a much faster rate. You could say it's even trying to make up for the lost time__.__"_

"_Well, this is great news, not something you should be moping over__,__" Ichigo looked at her as if she was an idiot._

And he's back to his usual self_. "I _haven't _finished yet__,__" she hissed. "It's just that…__,__" she trailed off._

"_Just spit it out__,__" he huffed._

_She glared at him, but then took a breath and, with much seriousness, said the word. _

"_Bankai__.__"_

"_What about it?"_

"_Me achieving Bankai__,__" she clarified with a somehow defensive tone. She half expected him to start mocking her for even thinking about it._

_He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Still can't see the problem__."_

"_But I'm not even a seated officer!" __S__he spluttered exasperated._

"_Your point being__…__?"_

_She flapped her mouth ready to present him more arguments, but suddenly found none. She blinked. _Huh?

"_Very well__,__" he gave her a satisfied smirk__,__ "we're starting your Bankai training tomorrow__.__"_

"_What -, _we_?"_

"_Well__,__" he scratched the back of his head__,__ "Urahara certainly has more experience, but I'm sure I won't have any problems beating you into the ground."_

"_As if you really could__,__" she scoffed, to prevent her mouth __from__ widen__ing__ into that large grin that was threatening to escape at any second. For him it was just that obvious: She could do it._

_/ / /_

Rukia stopped for a moment to calm her harsh breathing. After three hours of intense training under the hot sun she was starting to feel light-headed, but she wasn't giving up. She had this feeling that Ichigo was going to need her strength in the near future.

She had faith in him, but he had a tendency to get into big messes, which is why she needed to be ready.

She knew he would find a way around Central 46's orders. That last time she had seen him, her gut instinct had told her he still remembered her, at least in some way. That meant things couldn't stay like this for too long, right? Ichigo was too impulsive to wait too long, but…

- she pressed her lips together -

…_but it's already been three months, three _whole_ months!_

Doubt started creeping upon her. _What if I was wrong? What if something happened to that idiot?_

She decided then and there she would ask her Captain to send her on a new mission to the World of the Living.

"Hey, Rukia!"

Renji's voice snapped her out of her musings and, as she looked up, she wiped her face of any lingering trace of her worries. "Hey! What's up?"

"I should be the one asking you! Look at you!" He waved his hand pointing at her form drenched in sweat. "Are you crazy? Training on a day like this?"

"I had training scheduled for this afternoon," Rukia replied haughtily.

"Come on, relax already! The war is over!" Renji rolled his eyes.

"You're free to grow weak, but I don't intend to," she told him in a superior voice.

"Hey! I could beat you with my pinkie!" The fellow Fuku-taicho replied outraged.

"Prove it," she readily raised her katana giving him a challenging smile.

Renji contemplated the offer for all of two seconds then, "Nah, it's too hot."

She frowned. If it had been Ikkaku or Ichigo he'd have already released his Shikai, but for some reason he didn't seem to want to take her seriously as a warrior. In his eyes she was still little Rukia from Rukongai, or the shinigami with average powers.

Of course she could insult him and call him a pussy, a fool-proof way to compel him into a fight, but today she really didn't feel like dealing with him. He had a tendency to gloat to much during their fights. – Ichigo on the other hand… she'd been surprised how seriously he'd taken their training sessions.

"Whatever," she shrugged and turned back to her exercises.

Renji blinked, puzzled, but since Rukia was ignoring him he turned his back with a sarcastic "Have fun!" and walked away.

As soon as he turned the corner, she let her tough façade drop. She was tired, but more than that she was worried.

_Are you alright, you idiot?_

§I§

An Academy student with brown curly hear sat in a tree, that gave a wonderful view of the 13th Divisions training grounds, observing the lone figure practicing her fighting skills.

Her movements were precise and elegant, like always, but he detected that the actual strength behind them had increased since the last time he's seen her training.

_You've gotten better, midget_.

He felt something suspiciously resembling pride stir inside him.

For a moment there Ichigo got lost following the ripples of her black shihakushou as she moved quickly through the air and the white flashes of her katana under the scalding sun.

When she stopped to catch her breath, he noticed how her focused expression gave way to sort of a spaced out look. He frowned. He knew that kind of look when Rukia 'spaced out': something was bothering her.

Then Renji suddenly appeared and he thought the pineapple would notice something was off - Rukia needed someone to snap her out of it, whatever that 'it' was – but after blabbing something about the weather – from that distance Ichigo could hear just one word every three – the red-head walked off.

_What the hell Renji?_

He had half a mind to jump down and go to the midget, totally forgetting that he had a disguise on and that he was supposed to stay 'undercover', but an approaching familiar reiatsu made him pause.

_Hey, isn't that Hideki?_

Then it hit him: his fight with Tendo, what's-his-name, was supposed to start in ten minutes and Hideki was probably looking for him.

With a last glance at Rukia, he jumped off the tree on the other side of the wall and sped towards his friend.

XXX TBC XXX

So I promised IchiRuki goodness and I hope I didn't disappoint (since this was my first time writing so much Ichigo-Rukia interaction)! It became so long that I had to move all the fighting to the 10th chap, which means…

NEXT CHAPTER: Action! – and nope, I'm not talking simply about some scuffle with an annoying Academy student! ^_-

NOTES:

(1) "Hado N.2: Soushou" is a Kido I made up, 'cause I needed something slightly more difficult than a "Hado N.1: Shou". 'Soshou' means simply 'double shou', that is 'double hit/thrust', where the caster shots two little energy blasts from his hand, one after the other in quick sequence. The correct Japanese translation was kindly provided by Blusake. Thank you dear!

(2) That's the cave where Ichi trained for his Bankai.

(3) In Canon, the Academy students get either into the normal or the advanced class based – I suppose – on their reiatsu, but I think a freshman that has a high reiatsu, but doesn't know the first thing about, say, Kido, should be put in the normal class until he learns the basics, then moved to the advanced one. This way, in my story, a student can attend advanced classes in some subjects and normal classes in others. Also, if a student shows great improvement in a subject, he can be moved from the normal to the advanced class.

So, in my story, both Ichi and Takeshi are in all the advanced classes, while Hideki is in the Zanjutsu advanced class, but in the normal classes in the other subjects. 


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**** HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!****  
**

Yep, you're not seeing things: this is an UPDATE!

I apologize for making you wait so long, but there's been some major changes in my RL – but I won't bore you with the details – that had me thinking about everything but fanfiction for a couple months, then an annoying writer's block managed to complicate things.

Anyway, now I'm back to updating regularly! I also think I should let you know that I've already outlined and wrote down most of the plot (something that I hadn't done before) so, hopefully, this shouldn't happen again!

**To make up for the la****teness I wrote a double chapter: There's much action, as promised, and a scene I'm sure you've been waiting for ! ^_- **

.

Now, for those who don't remember what's happened so far:

**SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS:**

The War's over, Ichigo killed Aizen and is back to his usual life, killing hollows with Rukia from time to time. They're even closer than before and some months ago Ichigo convinced her to accept the position of lieutenant of the 13th Squad and also to start training for Bankai.

Central 46 orders to seal both the powers and the memories of all the humans that took part in the War, but Urahara manages to catch wind of the plot and make it so both the memory and the power removals are reversible and, in Ichigo's case, they don't work on him at all. The whole of SS, including Rukia, believe that it worked.

Urahara explains to Ichigo that he believes that Yamamoto Ideyoshi, the Captain Commander's younger brother, is behind all this, but Urahara doesn't know his reasons. Ideyoshi had part of his powers sealed a long time ago and is now the headmaster of the Shino Academy. He also runs the Four Sakura Leaves club for the most gifted students. Also, some of the students of that club have disappeared in the past two years.

For these reasons Urahara and Tessai train Ichigo in Kido and reiatsu control so he can enter the Academy under the name Kasshoku Kaito and investigate what happened. Thanks to Tessai's Kido, his hair is brown and curly and his nose is different.

He manages to pass the entrance exam with the best score but without looking exceptional (he's undercover, remember?), but he also finds out Rukia is to be one of his Kido teachers (Ukitake is working together with Urahara and convinced her to take the job). From the beginning she notices there's something weird about Kasshoku.

He makes friends with Mori Hideki, a boy from Rukongai and Kurosaki Ichigo's fan since Ichigo saved him from a hollow during the war, while also becoming friends with Shihouin Takeshi, Yoruichi's nephew and also his roommate. On the first day Takeshi finds out that Ichigo hid Zangetsu (in sealed form) inside his mattress and, though he doesn't say anything, he starts noticing other oddities about his roommate.

After two weeks at the Academy, Tendo Daijiro, a 4th year student and member of the Four Sakura Leaves Club, challenges Ichigo to a fight.

Before going to fight Tendo, Ichigo stops by the 13th Division's training grounds to observe Rukia training for her Bankai…

…and that's where chapter 10 begins!

.

§I§

Change of POV.

§I§

.

_**PREVIOUSLY**_

Hey, isn't that Hideki?

_Then it hit him: his fight with Tendo, what's-his-name, was supposed to start in ten minutes and Hideki was probably looking for him._

_With a last glance at Rukia, he jumped off the tree on the other side of the wall and sped towards his friend._

**CHAPTER 10 **

"Yo'." Ichigo greeted.

"Hey!" Hideki nodded back. "Where were you? Everybody's waiting for you!"

Ichigo's gaze shifted to the side as he scratched the back of his head, "Just lost track of time."

Hideki raised both eyebrows. _He_ certainly wouldn't forget if he had to go up against a character such as Tendo Daijiro, but Kaito sure didn't seem to be taking that guy seriously.

Hideki sighed. "'key, let's hurry." but as he was turning, his gaze lingered a moment on the buildings behind Ichigo.

"Aren't 13th Division's barracks in that direction?" he wondered, then, turning his gaze back to his brown-haired friend, he added teasingly, "Now I see why you'd lose track of time!" - after all it was just a few days back that Takeshi was making fun of Kaito's crush on the 13th Division's Fuku-taicho.

"Don't be ridiculous." Ichigo scoffed rolling his eyes. _I'm certainly not about to tell him he's half-right – well, 'right' in the fact that I was checking on Rukia, not the _other_ thing, of course! _

XXX

As they were stepping through the doors that led to the Zanjutsu training grounds, which consisted of an open courtyard enclosed on all four sides by three buildings and a wall, Hideki asked Ichigo something that had been bugging him for the past two days.

"By the way, I couldn't find you anywhere since Saturday morning. Where did you disappear to?"

"Zanjutsu training" Ichigo replied offhandedly. That was actually true, since he'd spent quite a relaxing Saturday fighting with both Zangetsu and his Hollow in the cavern under the Soukyoku Hill then soaking in the nearby healing hot springs.

"What? But I told you I'd help you with that! You should've called me!" Hideki said, with a slight pout heard in his voice.

"And I told you not to worry." Ichigo replied, now just a little exasperated even though he knew the boy meant well. After all, how was Hideki supposed to even imagine that his friend from Inuzuri, who, after two weeks at the Academy still hadn't learned how to properly swing an Asauchi, could slice up Adjuchas-level hollows without breaking a sweat?

Ichigo could tell that Hideki wanted to ask something else, but they were already entering the 'arena'.

As Ichigo's eyes turned to look for his adversary, he couldn't help the surprised frown that creased his brows. Tendo Daijiro was there, alright, standing under the hot sun in the center of the open courtyard, arms folded, chin high, his whole pose screaming 'bow in front of the coolness that's me' – _Idiot_ – but what about the two hundred plus students standing around the perimeter of the area?

"What's up with all the crowd?" Ichigo asked his companion, but it was Takeshi that answered as he approached them.

"Let's say that news traveled fast and that on a hot afternoon like this people'd rather watch a fight than take part in one." the young Shihouin quipped.

"Hn." Ichigo grunted, though he actually didn't mind the audience. The more people who saw his abilities, the faster he'd get the invitation to join the Four Sakura Leaves.

As he walked towards Tendo, an excited murmur raised among the crowd. Judging by the few words he caught, many had placed bets against him, and according to a guy he was about to be put through …_what was that? '_a meat grinder'_?_ He snorted.

"So you actually showed up?" Tendo addressed Ichigo, "I thought you'd wise up and hide in a hole somewhere, seeing as you have to deal with such a powerful adversary!" he sneered.

"Are you done talking or should I get a magazine while I wait for you to finish?" Ichigo replied straight-faced.

"How dare you!" Daijiro growled, "I'll teach you to respect your betters!" and he unsheathed his Zanpakuto.

"Any rules I should be aware of?" Ichigo asked loudly while extracting his own Asauchi.

The question made his adversary pause and turn towards a group of older students that was standing in the front. One of them, a tall girl with short dark blue hair replied with an authoritative voice. "No killing and no permanent damage to your opponents' body."

Tendo scowled a little at the last part, but nodded silently, and turned his attention back to Ichigo. "Don't think for a second I'll go easy on you just because you're in the first year!"

"Just stop babbling and start fighting!" Ichigo replied with a challenging smirk, while observing the aforementioned group of students from the corner of his eye.

_Those people have to be__ somebody important if even such an ego-maniac as Tendo respects them. _

But there wasn't much time for such musings, because Daijiro seemed ready to pounce.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and raised his Asauchi, but kept his stance relaxed. His strategy was the following: Drag things out a little, then strike Tendo down, using his Asauchi as little as possible.(1)

So, as his adversary charged him among the cheers of the crowd with a sequence of slashes, Ichigo fluidly sidestepped all of them, occasionally using a flash-step, but needing to raise his Asauchi only twice to deflect, and pushing Tendo back with a well-placed kick to the chest or to the side whenever the older student came too close.

§I§

"Come on Kaito! Don't let him use that Zanpakuto of his!" Hideki hollered at his fighting friend trying to overcome the noise of the crowd, then turned towards Takeshi with a normal voice. "Why isn't he striking back? If he keeps this up he'll get winded and then it'll be over!"

He frowned, both worry and frustration showing in his green eyes, as once again Kaito barely avoided another one of Tendo's lunges.

Takeshi glanced at him, "Look closer. Does it really seem to you like Kaito's having troubles keeping up with Tendo's attacks?"

"Well, " Hideki tilted his head and focused on analyzing the moves and the expressions of the two fighters, "actually, now that you mention it, Kaito always seems to be able to avoid Tendo's sword attacks just in the nick of time".

Takeshi snorted. "You mean, he´s always a step ahead of them!"

Hideki glanced at his purple-haired friend raising an eyebrow, "But only an expert swordsman is able to anticipate the adversary's moves and Kaito isn´t one!"

"Exactly," the young Shihouin shot him a meaningful look. "odd, huh?"

Hideki paused, blinked, looked back at the fight then at Takeshi once again. "What are you not telling me?"

But Takeshi didn't elaborate further, even though it was obvious there was something on his mind.

After a moment Hideki shrugged and turned back to watch the fight and cheer Kaito on.

He'd leave Takeshi to his wonderings for now, then ask again later.

Indeed, Takeshi´s mind was working a mile a minute.

Kaito's talent in Hoho and Hakuda was unquestionable. Then there was the fact that the guy was hiding a Zanpakuto – which he supposed being Kaito's own – inside his mattress.

Adding these facts together, in the beginning he had thought it only logical for Kaito to be really good at Zanjutsu too, but seeing him handle an Asauchi for the first time as if it was a stick instead of a katana had put a monkey wrench in Takeshi´s reasoning... until now at least.

Because now, even though Kaito was trying to use his Asauchi as little as possible, his body's automatic responses, the way he seemed to guess where the adversary's blade would be in the next moment and move accordingly... all of this could only mean one thing:

_I bet my whole mansion that he's a master swordsman too!_

Which implied:

_He´s been faking it this __whole __time. _

But the biggest question remained: Why go to such lengths to hide his skills in Zanjutsu?

And better yet: What else could Kaito be hiding?

Takeshi was getting more and more curious.

§I§

"You can´t run forever!" Daijiro shouted, a malicious grin stretching his lips. To him things were pretty clear: this freshman was too inferior to even attempt a serious attack and soon the boy was going to get too tired to keep avoiding his Zanpakuto – but the fact that said inferior freshman was still completely unharmed and not winded in the slightest, while Daijiro himself was starting to show the first signs of fatigue, didn't seem to register in his mind.

_This fight's like a walk in the park,_ he snickered, _but I suppose I should try to make things a bit more bloody! _and with this last thought the older student closed in on his adversary and moved to his right to stab the supposed wimp in the abdomen.

§I§

Ichigo moved sideways to avoid another stab, barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes . _How more predictable can he get?_

Getting fed up with his own defensive strategy – this was _so not_ his style – Ichigo blocked the following downward slash with his Asauchi held in his left hand and hit Tendo's now open right side with two fast jabs followed by an uppercut that made Tendo's jaw rattle and had him stumble several steps back.

From his adversary's grimace and curses he could tell it had hurt _a lot_.

Already bored to tears with this fight, Ichigo raised his right hand, ready to wrap things up with a Bakudo N.4: Hainawa, but Zangetsu quickly reminded him that it was still too soon.

_Yeah__,__ yeah, you're right._ Ichigo conceded while grumbling and therefore, switched the Bakudo with a Hado N.2 Soushou, even wasting some time with the chant, intentionally giving his adversary enough time to recover from the previous attack, move out of the way of the Hado and take a flash-step towards him.

_Smart choi__ce_, Zangetsu commended.

_The things I do to keep up my cover… _Ichigo sighed, while blocking Tendo's sideways left kick by bending his right knee upwards then lowering the same leg to take a step forward to keep up his momentum and, at the same time, elbow him in the stomach causing Daijiro to stumble back once again.

_You call this a fight? _Hichigo snorted_. All this jumping around looks more like fucking ballet dancing– tch__._

_I suppose a concept such as ´subtlety´ would be totally lost on you, so I won´t__ even bother explaining, _Ichigo shot back, even though the white nuisance _really_ had a point.

_Whatever, I still think you're just missing a pink leotard, then you're ready for ´Swan lake´._

Ichigo's eye twitched. _You little– _A stinging on his left arm cut his rant short.

"What, did I give you a boo-boo?" Tendo sneered, waving his Zanpakuto now stained with blood droplets.

Ichigo jumped back to avoid being cut again by the now emboldened Daijiro, his frown deepening by the second. This fight was starting to get really annoying.

_Sorry Old Man, but my acting abilities only go so far, _and, following this last comment, ignoring Zangetsu' exasperated sigh, Ichigo shunpo-ed towards Daijiro too fast for the older student to follow, giving him barely the time to register the image of the back of Ichigo's reiatsu-powered hand before it hit his jaw with such force to make him fly over the spectators' heads, all the way to the opposite wall that he hit head first, only to slide on the ground with his face hidden by his hair.

A sudden silence descended upon the students, everybody holding their breath waiting for Tendo to move from his crumpled position.

A girl with pigtails, that Ichigo remembered from some of his classes, took two timid steps towards the still unmoving form on the ground and touched his shoulder lightly.

"A-Are you alrigh–"

Before anybody had time to blink, Tendo's left hand shot up shoving the girl with such force to cause her to fall backwards where she was barely caught by her fellow students.

"Mind your own business bitch!" he growled at the girl, then turned his now murderous gaze towards Ichigo.

Wiping the blood on his face with his sleeve he slowly rose to his feet and hissed, "You're dead." and without wasting another moment he swung his Zanpakuto in a wide arc yelling:

"Shred my enemy to pieces, Umiwani!" (A/N: "Crocodile")

A greenish reiatsu enveloped Daijiro's Zanpakuto, and when it dissolved it revealed a double whip covered with green scales in place of the blade.

Once again, murmurs started to raise from the crowd. Some were still disgusted by Tendo's behavior, others thought that things were going to turn really bad for the freshman – "after all, he doesn't even have a Zanpakuto yet!" – and some commented on the fact that the scowl Kasshoku was wearing at the moment looked even scarier than Tendo's murderous eyes.

§I§

Ichigo absolutely _hated_ bullies. That was a fact all of his past adversaries, be it humans or not, knew very well. And now Tendo was going to know too. If that arrogant bastard thought that the spires of that little reptile-like Shikai were going to prevent him from getting to his body, it was obvious he'd never heard of Zabimaru.

With some twists of his body and a couple flash steps, Ichigo was past Tendo's guard, landing only a foot in front of him, just in time to see the prick's face morph from malicious glee to shocked fright, before Ichigo's reiatsu powered uppercut connected firmly with his solar plexus. (2)

Daijiro's body shook as he spit a significant amount of saliva, stained with blood, from his mouth and then dropped to his knees, but before he could crumple on the ground face first, Ichigo caught his left hand – the same he'd used to hit that girl – with his own, he intertwined their fingers front hand to back hand and twisted sharply, causing his adversary to yelp in pain.

Still twisting Daijiro's hand, Ichigo spoke to him with an icy voice, "Only a coward would vent his anger on an innocent who's trying to help him. If you have any honor in you, you'll apologize to that girl."

§I§

Tendo grinded his teeth, livid that he'd lost to this rookie, who was even daring to lecture him on proper behavior!

He raised his right, trying to hit Kasshoku with the hilt of the Zanpakuto he was still holding, but because of the pain, his movements were too slow and Kasshoku had all the time to move to the side and bind him with an abnormally powerful Bakudo N.1: Sai, thus ending their fight for good.

_Don't think this is over Kasshoku, I'll get my revenge!_

XXX

"Oh my goodness! Did you see that? Did you just _see_ that?" Hideki gushed "Kaito was so _totally_ cool!"

The young Shihouin smiled, tough it looked almost like a smirk: He was happy for his friend's victory, but, unlike most students, this outcome didn't surprise him at all, not after all the 'interesting' facts he'd noticed about his roommate in the past weeks and during this fight.

He and Hideki walked towards Kaito, joining the crowd of cheering students that was gathering around the victor, who, strangely, didn't seem to be that excited about his feat, but instead was staring into space, not paying the slightest attention to any of the people surrounding him.

"…earth to Kaito? Hey!" Hideki waved his hand in front of Kaito's face, but the latter, instead of turning his eyes to his shorter friend, raised them to stare at a point far beyond the training grounds' wall. The following moment, without uttering a word, he jumped over said wall and disappeared with a flash-step.

Takeshi and Hideki looked at each other in confusion. "What the hell's up with him?"

Hideki shrugged "Beats m–"

In that moment it hit them, and not only them, but also all the other students: some could barely feel it, others could tell exactly what direction it was coming from, but everybody had a hard time believing what they were sensing: An evil reiatsu somewhere not too far from the Academy, eerily similar to that of a…

"…hollow..." Hideki whispered, shuddering at the memories that word evoked.

The word started spreading among the students like wild-fire, so now, even those who had never felt this kind of reiatsu could put a name to it, but still, the dominant feeling was that of disbelief: After all, who'd ever heard of a hollow entering Seireitei without anybody noticing?

Nonetheless, most 6th years were getting ready to do their shinigami duty and go check this anomaly out, but in that moment a small figure appeared on one of the roofs of the buildings surrounding the courtyard.

"Everybody stay put!" Rukia addressed the students with a strong firm voice. "Nobody shall leave the Academy's grounds! If they do, they'll be severely punished, understood?" she added for good measure, staring down the people gathered in the 'arena', especially those who'd never fought a hollow and were itching to try for the first time.

With a last glance to make sure she'd managed to curve the youngsters' fighting spirit, she turned and flash-stepped in the same direction Ichigo had disappeared to only a few minutes prior.

§I§

"Come on." Takeshi whispered into Hideki's ear, while pulling him by the sleeve towards the wall.

The shorter boy turned to his friend, blinking. "Huh…?"

"It's obvious Kaito sensed the hollow and went to look for it," he elaborated. "We have to go help him!"

Hideki frowned. "But lieutenant Kuchiki said–"

"I know what she said," Takeshi replied "but she doesn't know one of the students is already there. What if by the time she arrives he's already been knocked out and lying in a ditch somewhere? She won't know there's somebody to save!" In truth, Takeshi doubted that Kaito could be beaten that easily, but it was still a possibility and he didn't want to risk his friend's life.

Hideki gave his friend a serious look, then, after a few seconds he nodded. "You're right, but how are we going to leave without anybody noticing?"

They were standing really close to the wall and, as they glanced at the other students, they noticed that most of their attention was focused on some 6th years that were trying to calm down some less then brave students frightened by the evil reiatsu.

Taking advantage of the distraction they jumped over the wall as silently as possible, and after covering a couple hundred feet at normal speed they launched into flash-steps.

They had just reached the outer wall of the Academy when Hideki had to pat Takeshi on the shoulder to get his attention. "Sorry man, but I can't keep up with you." he panted, "You go on. I'll be behind you, but I'll have to get there at my own speed." he blushed embarrassed. At this moment he really wished he was better in Hoho.

"Alright." Takeshi nodded. "Don't be long…and don't worry, I'll find Kaito." he replied with an encouraging smirk.

Then the purple-haired boy turned and shunpo-ed away.

XXX

It took Ichigo a little over three minutes to reach the outer edges of the forest under the Soukyoku Hill, which was the place he'd sensed the reiatsu originate from. He could have been faster, but he hadn't wanted to attract too much attention, especially if it was a false alarm – after all, even after Urahara's training he had yet to reach the levels of greatness at reiatsu-sensing that some shinigami possessed, so him being wrong was a definite possibility.

Case in point, the moment Ichigo stopped in mid-air over the first group of trees to get a better sense of the proper direction to take, the evil spiritual energy disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later much closer to his position.

_What the hell?_ Ichigo scratched his head scanning the trees left and right but he still couldn't see anything. He decided to take some other flash-steps in the direction of the hill then land on the ground: maybe this way he'd have more luck.

_Give it up_, Hichigo drawled, o_bviously the sun's fried the little reiatsu-__sensing__ ability you had._

Still scanning his surroundings, Ichigo gritted his teeth, _Instead of spouting such bullshit, why don't you try to help me out?_

Ignoring the image of Hichigo's raised brow at the word 'help', clearly expressing that what his King had just said might be the most moronic thing _ever_, Ichigo continued, _Like, for example, how can a hollow reach the innermost part of __Seireitei__with nobody __noticing?_

_And you're asking _me_? How the hell should I know?_

'_Cause you're a freaking hollow?_ Ichigo shot back, his tone dripping with sarcasm. _Why don– _but his inner dialogue was cut off abruptly by a sudden surge of reiatsu behind his back.

Ichigo jumped high in the air just in time to avoid being sliced in two by a reddish blade-like thing, a thing that he quickly found out was attached to the right arm of an Adjuchas-like hollow. Well, at least it looked like most of the Adjuchas he'd met: Twice his size, humanoid appearance, strong reiatsu, though it didn't seem too talkative, as it growled trying to slice his head off with another swing of his blade-like hand.

Ichigo jumped backwards to avoid the cut while automatically reaching behind his head to grab Zangetsu's hilt, but… _Shit, I forgot I left it inside my_ _room!_ For a moment there he pondered the possibility of calling on his Zanpaktou, but dismissed it immediately: A sword flying through the air wasn't exactly unnoticeable!

The hollow tried another frontal attack and this time Ichigo decided to block the opponent's descending arm-slash-blade with his left arm, hardened by infusing it with some reiatsu, while aiming a reiatsu-powered punch to his mask. A split second before connecting with the mask, the Hollow dodged and Ichigo found himself hitting another blade-like arm – _Wha…? – _and the next moment he sensed another two blades aiming for his torso.

_Shit_. He cursed inwardly and, in the nick of time before the other blades could connect with his body, he pushed down the hollow's right arm he was still holding to add momentum for a backward handspring, a move that had the added bonus of enabling him to kick the hollow's jaw during the backwards rotation of his body.

After creating some much needed distance between himself and his opponent, Ichigo paused to assess the situation. As he'd suspected, his reiatsu-powered kick hadn't made even a crack in the hollow's mask, and, what's more, the fucker was now sporting not one but four arms that ended with a reddish blade.

_Looks like Hakuda isn't going to cut it, at least not if I use this little reiatsu,_ Ichigo frowned , pressing his lips together – unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to raise his reiatsu too much and blow his cover.

_Alright__, looks like I'll have to try with Kido, but I'll start with the lower numbers_ – and in that moment he couldn't describe how grateful he was for all the time Tessai had spent to teach him to control his wild spiritual energy! (3)

As the hollow launched into another attack, Ichigo started murmuring the incantation for Bakudo N. 4: Hainawa, while easily side-stepping the enemy's blades at the speed of shunpo. Then, the moment he found himself up in the air, behind the growling hollow, he called the name of the Kido and hurled the rope made of reiatsu at his enemy, pumping it with much more spiritual energy that he could ever show anybody at the Academy.

Before the hollow had time to react, Ichigo followed it up with a Hado N.4: Byakurai, this time without the incantation, but before it could connect, the hollow shrieked, while its reiatsu surged to new levels breaking the Hainawa rope and deflecting the beam of reiatsu aimed for its mask so it just grazed his shoulder.

As the Byakurai connected with a nearby rock causing a minor explosion, Ichigo jumped backwards to avoid the shrapnel and dust, a deep scowl forming on his face: The amount of reiatsu he was using at the moment clearly wasn't enough, but how much was enough to kill that son of a bitch and not have the whole of Seireitei know that Kurosaki Ichigo was among them?

Ichigo's train of thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his own hollow choosing that exact moment to partake in his favorite past-time: mocking the King._ Tired already? I'd love to take your place, granny!_

_Shut it, I'm thinking!_ Ichigo growled while pondering his options. _Maybe if I just kept him busy for a while… other shinigami are due to arrive sooner or_ _later!_ and, following that thought, Ichigo tried to focus on sensing if there really was somebody on the way, but oddly enough he had problems feeling the reiatsu of the hundreds of shinigami he knew lived only a half-mile away.

Puzzling over his discovery, Ichigo took three flash-steps in the direction leading out of the forest – still closely followed by the enraged hollow – only to find out that his reiatsu sensing ability was suddenly working again.

_What's going on?_ he blinked, while ducking under two of the four swinging blades and delivering a powerful round-house kick from his crouched position to the hollow's abdomen.

_You really are retarded, ain't you?_ Hichigo drawled. _It's obvious there has to be something in the rocks of this place that's able to mask reiatsu! How else could that pathetic Adjuchas have his reiatsu appear and disappear when you were looking for him? _

_Most probably there's some Sekkiseki in the composition of the rocks on the East side of the hill_, Zangetsu added/gave his input.

_Yeah, what the Old Man said_. Hichigo said, rolling his eyes.

The proverbial light bulb switched on in Ichigo's head while a winning smirk appeared on his face: he'd just found the solution to his problem!

Choosing to ignore for the moment both Hichigo's insult and the oddity of him actually 'helping', he turned and shunpo-ed back to the place he and the hollow had been fighting before. He quickly checked it out to find the spot where his ability to sense outside spiritual energy was the weakest, then stopped there in mid-air and started murmuring the incantation, his attention split between the Kido and sensing his enemy that should be reappearing at any time.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! –"

_Ah, __there __you are, you howling bastard_, Ichigo smirked, as the hollow popped out from behind a rock, propelled itself at an incredible speed towards him with all four blades raised in the hopes of slicing the shinigami in as many parts.

" – Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. – " Ichigo continued, while standing his ground as the hollow was almost upon him...

… 30 feet …

… 20 feet …

_Now!_ Ichigo raised his left hand already alight with condensed bluish reiatsu while speaking the last words:

"Hado N. 33: Sokatsui!"

… but the moment the huge energy wave started leaving his hand something launched itself at an incredible speed and shoved into his right side, causing the Sokatsui to deviate by several degrees.

As Ichigo flew to the left carried by the momentum of whatever or whoever it was that had just ruined his perfect hit, he at least had the satisfaction of noticing that he'd managed to blow away the whole lower part of that weird Adjuchas' body, including two of the four arms. He also noticed in passing that he'd managed to disintegrate several huge boulders. _Let's hope nobody will ask questions!_

His assessment took no more than two seconds. The following moment he turned to his right and found... why wasn't he really surprised?

Rukia stood no more than three feet from him, gaping at the destruction his Hado had caused.

In the heat of the battle, in typical Ichigo fashion, he scowled at her and let the first words that passed through his mind fly out of his mouth:

"What the hell Rukia? I almost had him!" - and yes, there was a definite pout in his voice.

Rukia whipped her head towards him so fast, that for a moment there he feared for the safety of her neck, but he shouldn't have been worried about that, because the next moment their eyes met, and hers went wide as saucers...

..."_I-Ichigo_...?" she whispered, hardly believing herself what she'd just called him.

Ichigo's brain chose that moment to catch up with his mouth and it was now his eyes that widened to comical proportions.

_Shit shit shit! What should I do now?_

§I§

*** _a few minutes prior _***

Rukia was shunpo-ing towards the forest under the Soukyoku hill, eager to investigate that evil reiatsu she'd felt all the way to the training grounds where she was practicing only five minutes ago.

She'd already stopped by the Academy and warned all the students not to try anything stupid, and she hoped they would heed her warning.

Even as she passed the first trees and the spiritual energy became more definite, confirming that it belonged to a hollow, she could tell something about it felt definitely off and, what's more, it kept sort of 'flickering', at times stronger, at times weaker.

As she drew closer, she noticed there was a second spiritual energy next to the hollow. It felt like a shinigami and he or she was fighting the enemy.

_Who could it be?_ She frowned in confusion, as before she'd left, she'd checked that she was the closest officer in the area and her shunpo wasn't exactly slow.

She had to stop twice as both reiatsu's almost disappeared off her 'radar' many times, and by the third time, as they became barely perceptible, she had to guess the direction, finally deciding to head East.

XXX

She'd just passed over another rock formation when she suddenly saw and felt both of them: Less than two hundred feet from her a boy wearing the Academy uniform stood in mid-air with his back turned to her, while what looked like a really pissed off, howling, Adjuchas was speeding towards him.

_Wasn't I clear enough that they __mustn't__ leave the Academy! _She growled inwardly, but the most worry-some thing was that the student didn't seem to be reacting in any way to the danger coming his way.

_Oh Kami! Why isn't he moving? He's gonna get himself killed! _

She launched into shunpo, trying to call out to him to make him move, but he couldn't hear her above the roars of the hollow.

Panicking a little herself, Rukia quickly tried to calculate her speed and that of the hollow. _No! I must go faster... faster!_

She dove for him at break-neck speed, noticing too late what he was trying to do. As if in slow-motion, she saw him raise his arm, she heard him say the end of the spell, but she couldn't stop herself anymore: She connected with his body the same moment the blue reiatsu started leaving his hand.

They both flew through the air, but as soon as Rukia managed to stop her momentum, she turned to take in the results of that incredible energy wave.

_What…How..._ her eyes widened at the sight, _I've_ _only ever seen Nii-sama cast such a powerful Sokatsui! _

The next second something even more unbelievable reached her ears:

" 'What the hell Rukia? I almost had him!' "

_That voice..._

Rukia turned her head to look at the student. _Huh?...Kasshoku-san? ...no... his power... his whole __demeanor__...his eyes..._

_...his amber eyes look like..._

...she swallowed...

"I-Ichigo...?" the name slipped out of her mouth without notice._ No, it can't be, can it? _She tried quickly to squash her hope...

...but the 'oh shit' expression on his face told a whole other different story.

XXX

TBC

XXX

**A/N 2: **

A cliffhanger, I know, but I couldn't resist! The next chapter will be up in about 2 weeks.

**NOTES**

(1) Remember that Ichigo is trying to pass as average in Zanjutsu (see chapter 5 towards the end).

(2) It's a point just above the stomach. Being hit there hurts like a bitch, and if you're familiar with Dragonball Z you'll know what I'm talking about.

(3) If you remember, Ichigo had the most problems controlling the lower number kido spells (see chapter 7)

BTW, writing the fight with Tendo was a real pain in the a** – too many limitations! – but I hope I managed to make it at least a bit interesting – let me know!


End file.
